gunner
Americannoun
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gunners
plural
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a person who operates a gun or cannon.
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Army. an occupational title in the artillery.
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Navy. a person skilled in handling ammunition and gunnery equipment.
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Marine Corps. a warrant officer who may be given any one of a number of assignments.
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British.
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Military. a private in the artillery.
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Informal. any officer or enlisted person assigned to the artillery.
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a person who hunts with a gun.
noun
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a serviceman who works with, uses, or specializes in guns
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navy (formerly) a warrant officer responsible for the training of gun crews, their performance in action, and accounting for ammunition
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gnr. (in the British Army) an artilleryman, esp a private
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a person who hunts with a rifle or shotgun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gunner
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at gun 1, -er 1
Vocabulary lists containing gunner
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.
See Examples For:
He served as a rifleman, mortarman and machine gunner and his most recent appointment was as a Section Second in Command within the Assault Pioneer Platoon.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Shelley was a seaman gunner on the destroyer HMS Milne on D-Day and guarded troops going ashore during the Normandy landings in June 1944.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Although more accustomed to playing out wide as a gunner, he didn’t blink at lining up at a position more often occupied by bigger linebackers, or sometimes even linemen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
Eighth Air Force and served as a radio gunner on a B-17, the massive bomber known as the Flying Fortress.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
The crew chief, Red, a hulking redheaded guy from Tennessee, maintained the helicopter and served as the door gunner during flights.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Russian businesses are leasing air-defense systems, building their own and hiring gunners to shoot down incoming drones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
The Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride requires riders taking up different roles, with two gunners, engineers and a pair of pilots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
Some Ukrainian gunners have told reporters they were only allowed to fire three shells per night.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2024
His gunners use the old Soviet 2S1 Gvozdika system, which is not known for being accurate.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2023
The patriotism of her young flight crews would be an inspiration to women serving the Motherland in a host of less glamorous roles—as snipers, tank drivers, antiaircraft machine gunners, technicians, cooks, or launderers.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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