Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

blowgun

[bloh-guhn]
noun
  1. a pipe or tube through which darts or other missiles are blown by the breath.
Show More

Origin of blowgun

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; blow2 + gun1
Also called blowtube.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for blow-gun

Historical Examples

  • But the blow-gun was at length levelled, and the curare did its work.

    The Forest Exiles

    Mayne Reid

  • In Borneo the use of the blow-gun is not confined to the Dyaks.

  • They go by in a minute, and I take off the last one with my blow-gun.

    The Inca Emerald

    Samuel Scoville

  • His words were punctuated by the deadly pop of Pinto's blow-gun.

    The Inca Emerald

    Samuel Scoville

  • He spears fish and he kills birds and beasts with a blow-gun.

British Dictionary definitions for blow-gun

blowgun

noun
  1. the US word for blowpipe (def. 1)
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for blow-gun

n.

type of weapon, 1799, from blow (v.1) + gun (n.).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper