gunfight

American

[guhn-fahyt] / ˈgʌnˌfaɪt /

noun

a battle between two or more people or groups armed with guns, especially a confrontation between two gunfighters using revolvers in the frontier days of the American West.

gunfight British

/ ˈɡʌnˌfaɪt /

noun

a fight between persons using firearms

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of gunfight

First recorded in 1650–60; gun ¹ + fight

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While inspecting Boyd’s truck, Tamasi noted a Samsung tablet mounted on the dashboard, a device that could have recorded the gunfight.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

Vancouver Assistant City Attorney Sara Baynard-Cooke, who is defending the lawsuit, said Goudschaal — a decorated officer who was shot and critically injured in a 2014 gunfight — denies the allegations.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 4, 2024

He recalls meeting with Yeltsin and others at 3 a.m., just a few hours after the gunfight at Ostankino.

From Slate • Oct. 9, 2023

They would have imagined a world where their team, at their brilliant best, could fire some shots that would trouble the Boks, but that old line about peashooters at a gunfight seemed appropriate.

From BBC • Sep. 10, 2023

There was a moment, just a moment, like the hesitation in a cheap Western movie just before the gunfight starts.

From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023