Thompson submachine gun

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See synonyms for Thompson submachine gun on Thesaurus.com

noun

a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.

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Also called Tommy gun.

Origin of Thompson submachine gun

1920–25; named after J. T. Thompson (1860–1940), American army officer who aided in its invention

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Thompson submachine gun in a sentence

“You can imagine the sound of that gun on a Bronx street,” Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce says.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown|Michael Daly|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The billionaire philanthropist tastes the product of a machine that processes human sewage into drinking water and electricity.
Bill Gates Drinks Sewer Water|Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That act forever sealed his feeling for the Chief, bound it up with the war, with violence, with the gun.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I mean, the reality of it was, I had to go out and get on a horse, and ride in, shoot the gun — how hard was that, right?
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

They were the machine gun bullets coming from the ambush when my company got hit.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The controlling leaders being out of gear the machine did not run smoothly: there was nothing but friction and tension.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
This was no strange sight to the boy by that time, but it was awkward in the circumstances, for he had neither gun nor spear.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
He turned at the sound of my voice with vastly more concern than he'd betrayed under the muzzle of Piegan's gun.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
A little black girl sat on the floor, and with her hands worked the treadle of the machine.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
The sewing-machine made a resounding clatter in the room; it was of a ponderous, by-gone make.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for Thompson submachine gun

Thompson sub-machine-gun

noun

trademark a .45 calibre sub-machine-gunAlso called: Tommy gun

Word Origin for Thompson sub-machine-gun

C20: after John T. Thompson (1860–1940), US Army Officer, its coinventor

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