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  • machine gun
    machine gun
    noun
    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
    machine-gun
    verb (used with object)
    to shoot at with a machine gun.
Synonyms

machine gun

1 American  

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 2 American  
[muh-sheen-guhn] / məˈʃinˌgʌn /

verb (used with object)

machine-gunned, machine-gunning

  1. to shoot at with a machine gun.

machine gun British  

noun

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

    2. ( as modifier )

      machine-gun fire
"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

verb

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of machine gun1

First recorded in 1865–70

Origin of machine-gun2

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was Sylvester Stallone in the 1986 action movie “Cobra,” toting a machine gun.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

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.

From Barron's • Nov. 11, 2025

A pistol, rifle and deactivated World War One machine gun were among the items lost or stolen from Ministry of Defence facilities over the past two years.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2024

Bump stocks are replacement shoulder stocks that allow a semiautomatic gun to fire at nearly the rate of a machine gun.

From Salon • Jul. 18, 2024

Somewhere nearby an incongruous sound shook the dark, an air hammer pounding like a machine gun.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.