Lewis gun

American

noun

a light, air-cooled, gas-operated machine gun with a circular magazine, first used in World War I.

Lewis gun British

noun

a light air-cooled drum-fed gas-operated machine gun used chiefly in World War I

"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

Etymology

Origin of Lewis gun

First recorded in 1910–15; named after I. N. Lewis

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Lewis gun

With the assistance of a few Sikhs and one Lewis gun we could hold this legation, if Italians arrive within a few days.

From Time Magazine Archive

Later he used a Lewis gun stripped of its radiator and casing, which fired "a wonderfully dispersed pattern."

From Time Magazine Archive

It is ten pounds lighter and five inches shorter than the old army pattern Lewis gun, is gas-operated and air-cooled.

From Time Magazine Archive

Up on the double came a second company with a Lewis gun.

From Time Magazine Archive

I am making a spade-grip trigger for the Lewis gun, so that the observer can always have one hand free to manipulate the movable back-sight.

From Cavalry of the Clouds by Bott, Alan

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