derringer

American  

[der-in-jer] / ˈdɛr ɪn dʒər /

Or deringer

noun

1. an early short-barreled pocket pistol.

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derringer British  

/ ˈdɛrɪndʒə /

noun

1. a short-barrelled pocket pistol of large calibre

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Etymology

Origin of derringer

1850–55, named after Henry Deringer, mid-19th-century American gunsmith who invented it

Example Sentences

Brigid also learns how to swoon on cue and aim a derringer in this vibrant new series.

From Washington Post • May 26, 2020

I’d walk downtown to Ford’s Theatre and go to the basement museum and see the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used.

From Washington Post • Sep. 5, 2019

They vote, and they are heavily armed, right down to the .22-caliber derringer fired by Nadine Wheeler, 63, a retiree who calls her tiny gun “the best in feminine protection.”

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2016

Characters wield vintage weaponry including derringer pistols and cutlasses.

From The Guardian • Jul. 26, 2013

The derringer is less than six inches long and made of brass, with a two-inch barrel.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly