firearm

/ˌfaɪərˈɑrm/

/ˈfaɪəɑm/

Other forms: firearms

Definitions of firearm

1. noun

   a portable gun
   “he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster”

   synonyms: piece, small-arm

   types:

   autoloader, self-loader

   a firearm that reloads itself

   muzzle loader

   an obsolete firearm that was loaded through the muzzle

   handgun, pistol, shooting iron, side arm

   a firearm that is held and fired with one hand

   repeater, repeating firearm

   a firearm that can fire several rounds without reloading

   rifle

   a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore

   riot gun

   a firearm designed to disperse rioters rather than to inflict serious injury or death

   scattergun, shotgun

   firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges

   smoothbore

   a firearm that has no rifling

   .22, twenty-two

   a .22 caliber firearm (pistol or rifle)

   arquebus, hackbut, hagbut, harquebus

   an obsolete firearm with a long barrel

   automatic firearm, automatic gun, automatic weapon

   a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released

   automatic, automatic pistol

   a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

   carbine

   light automatic rifle

   derringer

   a pocket pistol of large caliber with a short barrel

   firelock, flintlock

   a muzzle loader that had a flintlock type of gunlock

   forty-five

   a .45-caliber pistol

   fowling piece

   a light shotgun used for fowling

   Garand, Garand rifle, M-1, M-1 rifle

   a semiautomatic rifle

   gat, rod

   a gangster's pistol

   horse pistol, horse-pistol

   a large pistol (usually in a holster) formerly carried by horsemen

   Mauser

   trademark for a repeating rifle or pistol

   musket

   a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen

   peacekeeper

   the pistol of a law officer in the old West

   revolver, six-gun, six-shooter

   a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)

   Saturday night special

   a cheap handgun that is easily obtained

   sawed-off shotgun

   a shotgun with short barrels

   semiautomatic firearm

   an autoloader that fires only one shot at each pull of the trigger

   semiautomatic, semiautomatic pistol

   a pistol that is a semiautomatic firearm capable of loading and firing continuously

   precision rifle, sniper rifle

   an extremely powerful rifle developed for the military; capable of destroying light armored vehicles and aircraft more than a mile away

   twenty-two pistol

   a .22-caliber pistol

   twenty-two rifle

   a .22-caliber rifle

   Verey pistol, Very pistol

   a pistol for firing Very-light flares

   Winchester

   a shoulder rifle

   zip gun

   a crude homemade pistol

   type of:

   gun

   a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)