gunplay

[guhn-pley]

noun

the exchange of gunshots, usually with intent to wound or kill.

Origin of gunplay

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; gun¹ + play

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gunplay

Contemporary Examples of gunplay

Over time, the patterns of gunplay and stabbings reminded Slutkin of the diseases crossing rural Africa.
Using Strategies Reserved for Disease Outbreak, Activists Try to “Cure” Urban Violence
Sarah Kunst
April 11, 2014
And, yes, Black Friday provides the spectacle of gunplay, arrests, and casual violence.
Black Friday Doesn’t Matter: Every Day Is Cyber Monday
Daniel Gross
November 26, 2012

Historical Examples of gunplay

You're up against something now that gunplay doesn't figure in.
The Grain Ship
Morgan Robertson
The crowd blinked; but when it opened its eyes the gunplay had not occurred.
Gunman's Reckoning
Max Brand
He had watched the Hawk's gunplay with an awe-stricken face; its speed never failed to amaze him.
The Passing of Ku Sui
Anthony Gilmore
He explains that gunplay gravitates to men who are the real thing—that it is provoked by the four-flushes, the bad men.
The Lone Star Ranger
Zane Grey
He was a keen boy with a hair-trigger balance, and in a gunplay he would be apt to beat the best of them all.
Gunman's Reckoning
Max Brand

British Dictionary definitions for gunplay

gunplay

noun

mainly US the use of firearms, as by criminals

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

Word Origin and History for gunplay

also gun-play, 1891, from gun (n.) + play (n.).