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spear gun

American  

noun

  1. a device for shooting a barbed missile under water, usually by means of gas under pressure, a strong rubber band, or a powerful spring.


spear gun British  

noun

  1. a device for shooting spears underwater

"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

Example Sentences

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“Murina,” an impressively tense, psychologically astute drama from Croatia, opens with a glimpse of Chekhov’s spear gun, a device not uncommon in tales of underwater peril.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2022

As an adult I took up interests in marine biology and underwater photography, ultimately trading the spear gun of my childhood for my first professional underwater camera.

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2022

I backed up into a two-metre-deep rock ledge with my back towards Bald Island, feeling very vulnerable without my spear gun, which I could see about 20 metres away.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 2, 2019

Mr Craig said he placed his spear gun between himself and the shark as it swam by him in Shark Bay, about 800km north of Perth, the state capital.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2017

Scotty, spear gun extended, swam right into the cave.

From The Wailing Octopus by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin

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