I. gun 1 S2 W2 /ɡʌn/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Perhaps from Gunnilda , a woman's name, from Old Norse Gunnhildr ]
1 . a metal weapon which shoots bullets or ↑ shell s
have/hold/carry a gun
I could see he was carrying a gun.
I’ve never fired a gun in my life.
Jake was pointing a gun at the door.
Two policemen were killed in a gun battle.
2 . put/hold a gun to sb’s head
a) to put a gun very close to someone’s head to shoot them or to force them to do something:
He put a gun to her head and told the cashier to hand over the money.
b) to force someone to do something they do not want to do:
You chose to live here. Nobody put a gun to your head.
3 . a tool that forces out small objects or a liquid by pressure:
a paint gun
a nail gun
⇨ ↑ flashgun , ↑ spray gun
4 . ( also starting pistol ) a gun which is fired into the air at the start of a race
5 . big/top gun American English informal someone who is very important within an organization:
Jed wanted to impress a Harvard professor and some other big guns.
6 . hired gun American English informal someone who is paid to shoot someone else
7 . with all guns blazing if you do something with all guns blazing, you do it with a lot of energy, determination, and noise
⇨ ↑ son of a gun , ⇨ stick to your guns at ↑ stick 1 , ⇨ jump the gun at ↑ jump 1 (11), ⇨ be going great guns at ↑ great 1 (11), ⇨ spike sb’s guns at ↑ spike 2 (6)
II. gun 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle gunned , present participle gunning )
1 . be gunning for somebody informal to be trying to find an opportunity to criticize or harm someone:
Why is he gunning for me?
2 . be gunning for something informal to be trying very hard to obtain something:
He’s gunning for your job.
3 . [transitive] American English informal to make the engine of a car go very fast by pressing the ↑ accelerator very hard
gun somebody ↔ down phrasal verb [usually passive]
to shoot someone and badly injure or kill them, especially someone who cannot defend themselves:
A policeman was gunned down as he left his house this morning.