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smoothboremore about smoothbore

smoothbore

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Smoothbore  \Smooth"bore`\,  a.  (Gun.) 
  Having  a  bore  of  perfectly  smooth  surface;  --  distinguished 
  from  rifled.  --  n.  A  smoothbore  firearm. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Gun  \Gun\,  n.  [OE.  gonne,  gunne;  of  uncertain  origin;  cf  Ir., 
  {Gael}.)  A  LL  gunna,  W.  gum;  possibly  (like  cannon)  fr  L. 
  canna  reed,  tube;  or  abbreviated  fr  OF  mangonnel,  E. 
  mangonel,  a  machine  for  hurling  stones.] 
  1.  A  weapon  which  throws  or  propels  a  missile  to  a  distance; 
  any  firearm  or  instrument  for  throwing  projectiles  by  the 
  explosion  of  gunpowder,  consisting  of  a  tube  or  barrel 
  closed  at  one  end  in  which  the  projectile  is  placed,  with 
  an  explosive  charge  behind,  which  is  ignited  by  various 
  means  Muskets,  rifles,  carbines,  and  fowling  pieces  are 
  smaller  guns,  for  hand  use  and  are  called  {small  arms}. 
  Larger  guns  are  called  {cannon},  {ordnance}, 
  {fieldpieces},  {carronades},  {howitzers},  etc  See  these 
  terms  in  the  Vocabulary. 
 
  As  swift  as  a  pellet  out  of  a  gunne  When  fire  is  in 
  the  powder  runne.  --Chaucer. 
 
  The  word  gun  was  in  use  in  England  for  an  engine  to 
  cast  a  thing  from  a  man  long  before  there  was  any 
  gunpowder  found  out  --Selden. 
 
  2.  (Mil.)  A  piece  of  heavy  ordnance;  in  a  restricted  sense  a 
  cannon. 
 
  3.  pl  (Naut.)  Violent  blasts  of  wind. 
 
  Note:  Guns  are  classified,  according  to  their  construction  or 
  manner  of  loading  as  {rifled}  or  {smoothbore}, 
  {breech-loading}  or  {muzzle-loading},  {cast}  or 
  {built-up  guns};  or  according  to  their  use  as  {field}, 
  {mountain},  {prairie},  {seacoast},  and  {siege  guns}. 
 
  {Armstrong  gun},  a  wrought  iron  breech-loading  cannon  named 
  after  its  English  inventor,  Sir  William  Armstrong. 
 
  {Great  gun},  a  piece  of  heavy  ordnance;  hence  (Fig.),  a 
  person  superior  in  any  way 
 
  {Gun  barrel},  the  barrel  or  tube  of  a  gun. 
 
  {Gun  carriage},  the  carriage  on  which  a  gun  is  mounted  or 
  moved 
 
  {Gun  cotton}  (Chem.),  a  general  name  for  a  series  of 
  explosive  nitric  ethers  of  cellulose,  obtained  by  steeping 
  cotton  in  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids.  Although  there  are 
  formed  substances  containing  nitric  acid  radicals,  yet  the 
  results  exactly  resemble  ordinary  cotton  in  appearance.  It 
  burns  without  ash,  with  explosion  if  confined,  but  quietly 
  and  harmlessly  if  free  and  open  and  in  small  quantity. 
  Specifically,  the  lower  nitrates  of  cellulose  which  are 
  insoluble  in  ether  and  alcohol  in  distinction  from  the 
  highest  (pyroxylin)  which  is  soluble.  See  {Pyroxylin},  and 
  cf  {Xyloidin}.  The  gun  cottons  are  used  for  blasting  and 
  somewhat  in  gunnery:  for  making  celluloid  when  compounded 
  with  camphor;  and  the  soluble  variety  (pyroxylin)  for 
  making  collodion.  See  {Celluloid},  and  {Collodion}.  Gun 
  cotton  is  frequenty  but  improperly  called  nitrocellulose. 
  It  is  not  a  nitro  compound,  but  an  ethereal  salt  of  nitric 
  acid. 
 
  {Gun  deck}.  See  under  {Deck}. 
 
  {Gun  fire},  the  time  at  which  the  morning  or  the  evening  gun 
  is  fired. 
 
  {Gun  metal},  a  bronze,  ordinarily  composed  of  nine  parts  of 
  copper  and  one  of  tin,  used  for  cannon,  etc  The  name  is 
  also  given  to  certain  strong  mixtures  of  cast  iron. 
 
  {Gun  port}  (Naut.),  an  opening  in  a  ship  through  which  a 
  cannon's  muzzle  is  run  out  for  firing. 
 
  {Gun  tackle}  (Naut.),  the  blocks  and  pulleys  affixed  to  the 
  side  of  a  ship,  by  which  a  gun  carriage  is  run  to  and  from 
  the  gun  port. 
 
  {Gun  tackle  purchase}  (Naut.),  a  tackle  composed  of  two 
  single  blocks  and  a  fall.  --Totten. 
 
  {Krupp  gun},  a  wrought  steel  breech-loading  cannon,  named 
  after  its  German  inventor,  Herr  Krupp. 
 
  {Machine  gun},  a  breech-loading  gun  or  a  group  of  such  guns, 
  mounted  on  a  carriage  or  other  holder,  and  having  a 
  reservoir  containing  cartridges  which  are  loaded  into  the 
  gun  or  guns  and  fired  in  rapid  succession,  sometimes  in 
  volleys,  by  machinery  operated  by  turning  a  crank.  Several 
  hundred  shots  can  be  fired  in  a  minute  with  accurate  aim 
  The  {Gatling  gun},  {Gardner  gun},  {Hotchkiss  gun},  and 
  {Nordenfelt  gun},  named  for  their  inventors,  and  the 
  French  {mitrailleuse},  are  machine  guns. 
 
  {To  blow  great  guns}  (Naut.),  to  blow  a  gale.  See  {Gun},  n., 
  3. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  smoothbore 
  adj  :  of  a  firearm;  not  having  rifling  or  internal  spiral  grooves 
  inside  the  barrel  [syn:  {unrifled}]  [ant:  {rifled}]




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