gunfighter

American  

[guhn-fahy-ter] / ˈgʌnˌfaɪ tər /

noun

1. a person highly skilled in the use of a gun and a veteran of many gunfights, especially one living during the frontier days of the American West.

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Etymology

Origin of gunfighter

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95; gun ¹ + fighter

Example Sentences

The modified Springfield rifle that was buried alongside lawman and gunfighter Wild Bill Hickock in South Dakota in August 1876 is expected to fetch up to $200,000.

From Reuters • Jul. 21, 2021

He also explains the importance of being able to see the monsters in nighttime scenes, creating a scruffy Kong acting like a retired gunfighter or an older Elvis and wishing he made Godzilla’s head bigger,

From Washington Times • Jun. 23, 2021

There’s a weirdly unsettling scene in the 1953 Western Shane in which the dastardly gunfighter Jack Wilson, played by Jack Palance, dismounts his horse.

From Slate • Nov. 2, 2020

Too scared to correct the old gunfighter, Onion goes along with the mistake, and spends the next couple of years riding along with Brown’s outfit as “Henrietta.”

From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2020

Then I closed my grail diary and studied the Pac-Man machine in front of me, like a gunfighter sizing up an opponent.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline