Gatling gun

[gat-ling]

noun

1. an early type of machine gun consisting of a revolving cluster of barrels around a central axis, each barrel being automatically loaded and fired every revolution of the cluster.

Gatling gun

/ ˈɡætlɪŋ /

noun

1. a hand-cranked automatic machine gun equipped with a rotating cluster of barrels that are fired in succession using brass cartridges

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gatling gun¹

1860–65, named after R. J. Gatling (1818–1903), U.S. inventor

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gatling gun¹

C19: named after R. J. Gatling (1818–1903), its US inventor

Example Sentences

Probably the construction of the rotating film in a camera came from the Gatling gun.

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Guardsmen — about 1,000 weekend warriors — stood in the hot sun, rifles at the ready alongside the Gatling gun they brought, facing the railroad strikers camped out in the depot with their wives and children.

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So it was a Gatling gun of wins, just one after another.

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“It’s the freedom state of Florida. If they disagree with the governor, he brings out the Gatling gun.”

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Video from the engagement appears to show one drone engaged by an air defense system known as a C-RAM, which fires a six-barreled Gatling gun up to 75 rounds per second.

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Related Words

• submachine gun