gunfight

American  

[guhn-fahyt] / ˈgʌnˌfaɪt /

noun

1. 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

1. a fight between persons using firearms

---

Other Word Forms

• gunfighter
  noun
• gunfighting
  noun

---

Etymology

Origin of gunfight

First recorded in 1650–60; gun ¹ + fight

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gunfight

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

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

The Rutland County, Vermont, deputy, who lives in Glen Falls, New York, was off-duty at the time of the Nov. 20 gunfight in Saratoga Springs.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2023

Someone must have lost the Xbox gunfight because there's a series of angry groans near the television.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---