submachine gun

American  

[suhb-muh-sheen guhn] / ˌsʌb məˈʃin ˌgʌn /

noun

1. a lightweight automatic or semiautomatic gun, fired from the shoulder or hip. SMG

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Etymology

Origin of submachine gun

First recorded in 1915–20; sub- + machine gun

Example Sentences

Thompson, who takes his stage name from his wartime submachine gun, rose to fame during the bloody conflicts that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s.

From Barron's • Dec. 1, 2025

He fought in three of its five major battles, as well as in many lesser engagements, armed with a Thompson submachine gun.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2024

It features a solemn colonnade along with a column atop which a Soviet soldier stands cradling a submachine gun — a structure known to generations of Viennese as the “Monument to the Unknown Looter.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2023

In a recent seminar at Rutgers, he referred to the disease as “MPX,” an alternative he called “absolutely not ideal” after learning that MPX was the name for a type of submachine gun.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2022

Crouched in the doorway, submachine gun cradled in his arms, was an officer of the United States Coast Guard!

From The Electronic Mind Reader by Blaine, John