machine-gun

¹

[muh-sheen-guhn]

verb (used with object)

machine-gunned, machine-gunning 

1. to shoot at with a machine gun.

machine gun

²

noun

1. a small arm operated by a mechanism, able to deliver a rapid and continuous fire of bullets as long as the trigger is pressed.

machine gun

noun

1. 1. a rapid-firing automatic gun, usually mounted, from which small-arms ammunition is discharged

   2. ( as modifier )

      machine-gun fire

verb

1. (tr) to shoot or fire at with a machine gun

Other Word Forms

• machine gunner noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of machine-gun¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Origin of machine-gun²

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

In Rocinha, a favela under CV control, gang members vowed to kill those who leaked a 2020 video showing a CV leader surrounded by rifles and machine guns.

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Poison gas had drifted into the trench and bullets from German machine guns flew overhead.

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The Taiwanese boats also have water cannon and a 20-millimetre static machine gun, but are careful to avoid a confrontation that "could lead to unimaginable consequences", Huang said.

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The Hellas Aphrodite, carrying petrol from India to South Africa, was seized on Thursday when armed pirates opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades before boarding the vessel.

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“When I get my shelter finished,” announced one man in the suburbs of Chicago, “I’m going to mount a machine gun at the hatch to keep the neighbors out.”

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Related Words

• submachine gun