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  6. British. a member of a shooting party.
  7. electron gun.
  8. Slang.
verb (used with object), gunned, gun·ning.
verb (used without object), gunned, gun·ning.
  1. to hunt with a gun.
  2. to shoot with a gun.
Verb Phrases
  1. gun for,
    1. to seek with intent to harm or kill.
  2. jump the gun, Slang.
    1. to begin a race before the starting signal.
    2. to begin prematurely; act too hastily.

Origin of gun1

Related formsgun·less, adjective


  1. past participle of gin3.


  1. cotton gin.
  2. a trap or snare for game.
  3. any of various machines employing simple tackle or windlass mechanisms for hoisting.
  4. a stationary prime mover having a drive shaft rotated by horizontal beams pulled by horses walking in a circle.
verb (used with object), ginned, gin·ning.
  1. to clear (cotton) of seeds with a gin.
  2. to snare (game).

Origin of gin2

1150–1200; Middle English gyn, aphetic variant of Old French engin engine
Related formsgin·ner, noun


verb (used with or without object), gan, gun, gin·ning. Archaic.
  1. to begin.

Origin of gin3

1150–1200; Middle English ginnen, Old English ginnan, aphetic variant of onginnan, beginnen to begin


  1. Also called gin rummy. a variety of rummy for two players, in which a player with 10 or fewer points in unmatched cards can end the game by laying down the hand.
  2. the winning of such a game by laying down a full set of matched cards, earning the winner a bonus of 20 or 25 points.
verb (used without object), ginned, gin·ning.
  1. to win a game in gin by laying down a hand in which all 10 cards are included in sets.

Origin of gin4

First recorded in 1955–60; perhaps special use of gin1


  1. gunnery.

Examples from the Web for gun

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples


    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • If you don't put down that gun in double quick time, you'll repent it.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger


    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger


  • For the gun Andy had his Colt in the holster, and he knew it like his own mind.

British Dictionary definitions for gun


    2. (as modifier)a gun barrel
  4. US slang an armed criminal; gunman
  5. Australian and NZ slang
    1. an expert
  7. jump the gun or beat the gun
    2. informalto act prematurely
verb guns, gunning or gunned
  3. (intr) to hunt with a gun
See also gun for

Word Origin



  1. an alcoholic drink obtained by distillation and rectification of the grain of malted barley, rye, or maize, flavoured with juniper berries
  2. any of various grain spirits flavoured with other fruit or aromatic essencessloe gin
  3. an alcoholic drink made from any rectified spirit

Word Origin

C18: shortened from Dutch genever juniper, via Old French from Latin jūniperus juniper


  1. a primitive engine in which a vertical shaft is turned by horses driving a horizontal beam or yoke in a circle
  2. Also called: cotton gin a machine of this type used for separating seeds from raw cotton
  3. a trap for catching small mammals, consisting of a noose of thin strong wire
  4. a hand-operated hoist that consists of a drum winder turned by a crank
verb gins, ginning or ginned (tr)
  1. to free (cotton) of seeds with a gin
  2. to trap or snare (game) with a gin
Derived Formsginner, noun

Word Origin

C13 gyn, shortened from engine


verb gins, ginning, gan or gun
  1. an archaic word for begin


  1. Scot if

Word Origin

perhaps related to gif, an earlier form of if


  1. Australian offensive, slang an Aboriginal woman

Word Origin

C19: from a native Australian language

Word Origin and History for gun








in slang phrase gin up "enliven, make more exciting," 1887, probably from earlier ginger up in same sense (1849), from ginger in sense of "spice, pizzazz;" specifically in reference to the treatment described in the 1811 slang dictionary under the entry for feague:







"type of distilled drinking alcohol," 1714, shortening of geneva, altered (by influence of the similarity of the name of the Swiss city, with which it has no other connection) from Dutch genever "juniper" (because the alcohol was flavored with its berries), from Old French genevre, from Vulgar Latin *jeniperus, from Latin juniperus "juniper" (see juniper). Gin and tonic attested by 1873; gin-sling by 1790. Card game gin rummy first attested 1941 (described in "Life" that year as the latest Hollywood fad).



"machine for separating cotton from seeds," 1796, American English, used earlier of various other machineries, from Middle English gin "ingenious device, contrivance" (c.1200), from Old French gin "machine, device, scheme," shortened form of engin, from Latin ingenium (see engine). The verb in this sense is recorded from 1789.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with gun


In addition to the idiom beginning with gun

also see:
