noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of revolver
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How does revolver compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A revolver is a gun that can be held in one hand and has a revolving cylinder. Most revolvers can fire six bullets without being reloaded. You can also call a revolver a pistol or a handgun or even a six-shooter. This last nickname comes from the fact that many revolvers have six chambers for bullets in their revolving cylinders. Originally, they were called revolving guns, but the man who invented them, Samuel Colt, preferred the briefer revolver, and it caught on.
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.
See Examples For:
Downing Street has not released a picture of the revolver.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
The shots Gogarty fired from a revolver above the sleeping Joyce’s head sounded the prelude to Joyce’s exile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Pusser indeed owned a lot of guns, including a .30 carbine caliber revolver that Mike Elam managed to procure over the course of his investigation.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2025
She also had a stuffed kitten named John Grady Cole, the hero’s name in McCarthy’s “The Border Trilogy,” which follows three runaways who have a stolen Colt revolver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
Frankie lightly kicked the revolver across the room.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
The last young Bundists to remain in the ghetto joined the Zionists in the Jewish Combat Organization, which had obtained 10 revolvers from the Home Army.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
When authorities searched Michael Abatti’s properties, they took possession of more than three dozen firearms including more than two dozen rifles, as well as shotguns, pistols and revolvers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
He was carrying 743 rounds of ammunition and four handguns – two 9mm Browning semi-automatic pistols and two Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolvers.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
While the men huff around with revolvers, the women have embraced the model of the old “Road to … ” series with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2023
Dirix, Rotty, and the others charged at them, whooping and shouting, Jesper’s revolvers held aloft.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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.
