Synonyms

water pistol

American

noun

a toy gun that shoots a stream of liquid.

water pistol British

noun

Also called (US): water gun. a toy pistol that squirts a stream of water or other liquid

"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

Etymology

Origin of water pistol

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Surprisingly, one of the most violent-appearing images depicts water pistol games at a Pride Parade.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2022

"I feel like it's a raging fire," she told the board, "and I've got a water pistol."

From Salon • Aug. 11, 2022

In 2016, for example, after a series of US shootings, Apple changed its version of the gun emoji to a toy water pistol, prompting other large technology companies to follow suit.

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2021

An Arkansas man is set to be set free after decades in prison for robbing a taco shop with a water pistol.

From Fox News • Jul. 3, 2021

Zooey was now gazing abstractedly at an old root-beer stain on the ceiling plaster, which he himself had made nineteen or twenty years earlier, with a water pistol.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023