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

This will be made in Britain under a patent agreement as with the Lewis gun.

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

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

And while he was speaking he picked up that most marvellous of modern weapons, the Lewis gun, and found it unharmed.

From With Haig on the Somme by Webb, Archibald

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