Tommy gun

American  

noun

1. Thompson submachine gun.

2. any submachine gun.

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Tommy gun British  

noun

1. an informal name for Thompson sub-machine-gun

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Etymology

Origin of Tommy gun

First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening

Example Sentences

Roughly midway through, Pynchon’s characters hightail it all the way to proto-fascist Budapest, where shadows more lethal than any Tommy gun begin to encroach.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s no Tommy gun showdown with the killer in this story, no chase through tunnels or urban alleys and no triumphant clacking of handcuffs on the wrists of a guilty maniac.

From New York Times

Being self-schooled in deception, I claimed it was a bandolier of bullets for my plastic Tommy gun.

From Los Angeles Times

The crucial role of flip phones seems to put us in a more or less recent past, though the prevalence of Tommy guns and vintage hot rods argues for something further back.

From New York Times

Carrying his Tommy gun, two loaded chargers strapped around his chest, Gautier ran up the beach as bullets fizzed overhead, knowing he would narrow the gunners’ sweep the closer to the concrete bunker he got.

From Reuters

Related Words

• submachine gun