pump-action
Americanadjective
adjective
-
(of a shotgun or other repeating firearm) operated by a slide-action mechanism feeding ammunition from a magazine under the barrel into the breech
-
spraying or dispensing liquid by means of a pump rather than using a propellant
Etymology
Origin of pump-action
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15
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.
"We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer," Pirro said.
From Barron's • May 3, 2026
The firearms are described as a Mossberg 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Allen was found in possession of a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol, the document alleged.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
His bill would prohibit the keeping of pump-action firearms in the home - although there would be exemptions for farmers and pest controllers.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2022
Another sort of instrument lay beside it—a twelve- gauge pump-action shotgun, brand-new, blue-barreled, and with a sportsman’s scene of pheasants in flight etched along the stock.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
