Gatling gun

American  

[gat-ling] / ˈgæt lɪŋ /

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.

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Gatling gun British  

/ ˈɡætlɪŋ /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of Gatling gun

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Gatling gun

RTX’s Raytheon business has fielded inquiries about supply of its Phalanx rapid-fire Gatling gun, according to Jennifer Gauthier, Raytheon vice president for naval systems and sustainment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2024

The Gatling gun from the United States could fire three thousand bullets per minute.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022

Its central feature was a nose-mounted 30-mm Gatling gun that could fire 70 rounds a second.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2021

This young lady talked incessantly, and fired her words after the manner of a Gatling gun, without taking aim at anybody in particular.

From A Bicycle of Cathay by Orson Lowell

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Related Words

• submachine gun

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