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View synonyms for blunderbuss

blunderbuss

[bluhn-der-buhs]

noun

  1. a short musket of wide bore with expanded muzzle to scatter shot, bullets, or slugs at close range.

  2. an insensitive, blundering person.



blunderbuss

/ ˈblʌndəˌbʌs /

noun

  1. an obsolete short musket with large bore and flared muzzle, used to scatter shot at short range

  2. informal,  a clumsy unsubtle person

“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blunderbuss1

1645–55; < Dutch donderbus (equivalent to donder thunder + bus gun, box 1 ) with donder replaced by blunder. See harquebus
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blunderbuss1

C17: changed (through the influence of blunder ) from Dutch donderbus ; from donder thunder + obsolete bus gun

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