Lewis gun

American  

noun

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

---

Lewis gun British  

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of Lewis gun

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

Example Sentences

Up on the double came a second company with a 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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Of the aeroplanes, one carried a Maxim gun, another a Lewis gun, loaned to the Admiralty by Colonel Lucas, C.B., of Hobland Hall, Yarmouth.

From The War in the Air; Vol. 1 The Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force by Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir