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smoothbore

[smooth -bawr, -bohr]
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adjective
  1. (of firearms) having a bore that is smooth; not rifled.
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noun
  1. a smoothbore gun.
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Origin of smoothbore

First recorded in 1790–1800; smooth + bore2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for smoothbore

Historical Examples

  • But the rifle had to be served more carefully than the smoothbore.

    Artillery Through the Ages

    Albert Manucy

  • Our admiration for the smoothbore and its wholesale tactics was beyond expression.

    A Virginia Scout

    Hugh Pendexter

  • Just inside these casemates are two 15-inch smoothbore Rodman guns.

  • Smoothbore was left to his recollections and general musings.

    The Great Gold Rush

    W. H. P. (William Henry Pope) Jarvis

  • To Smoothbore this was not evidence of any abandonment of the conspiracy.

    The Great Gold Rush

    W. H. P. (William Henry Pope) Jarvis

British Dictionary definitions for smoothbore

smoothbore

noun
  1. (modifier) (of a firearm) having an unrifled borea smoothbore musket
  2. such a firearm
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Derived Formssmoothbored, adjective
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