gun

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noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ big, heavy

▪ loaded

▪ enemy

▪

They succeeded in silencing the enemy guns.

▪ anti-aircraft, anti-tank, artillery, field, hand (usually handgun), machine, semi-automatic

▪

a.50-calibre/.50-caliber machine gun

▪ .45-calibre/.45-caliber, .50-calibre/.50-caliber, etc.

▪ stun, taser, tranquillizer/tranquilizer

▪ laser, radar (= used by the police to check the speed of cars)

▪ harpoon, spear (usually speargun)

▪ glue (AmE), nail, pellet, spray, staple

▪ fake, replica, toy

▪ air

▪ squirt, water (both AmE) (water pistol in BrE)

▪ paintball

VERB + GUN

▪ be armed with, carry, have, tote (informal, esp. AmE)

▪

Look out! He has a gun!

▪ load, reload

▪

I loaded the gun with my last two bullets.

▪ draw, produce, pull, pull out

▪

He pulled a gun from his pocket.

▪ brandish, wave, wave around, wield

▪

She brandished the gun menacingly.

▪ aim, hold, point, raise

▪

He raised his gun, aimed and fired.

▪ cock

▪

He grinned and cocked the gun with his thumb.

▪ man

▪

Enemy ship approaching! Man the guns!

▪ handle, use

▪ fire, shoot

▪ drop, lay down, lower, put down

▪ holster (esp. AmE)

▪

Jorge quickly holstered his gun.

▪ silence

GUN + VERB

▪ blaze, fire, go off

▪

Guns were firing and grenades going off all around.

▪ aim at sb/sth, point at sb/sth

▪ shoot sth

▪

This new gun shoots a laser beam at the target.

▪ jam

▪ be mounted

▪

There was a machine gun mounted on the back of the Jeep.

GUN + NOUN

▪ control (esp. AmE), law

▪

a state that has strict gun control laws

▪

a gun control advocate

▪ crime, violence

▪

Anyone can be affected by gun violence.

▪ culture

▪

These kids have grown up in a drugs and gun culture.

▪ safety (esp. AmE)

▪

My big brother taught me about gun safety.

▪ ban (esp. AmE)

▪ amnesty (BrE)

▪

The police pointed to the success of a gun amnesty earlier this year.

▪ lobby

▪

the powerful gun lobby in the US

▪ shop, store (both esp. AmE)

▪ dealer, maker, manufacturer

▪ owner

▪ ownership, possession

▪ enthusiast, nut (esp. AmE)

▪ club

▪ show (AmE)

▪ attack, battle

▪ crew

▪ emplacement, position

▪ turret

▪ carriage (esp. BrE)

▪ barrel

▪ rack

▪ belt

▪

They grudgingly took off their gun belts and holsters.

PHRASES

▪ the barrel of a gun

▪

I found myself looking down the barrel of a gun.

▪ guns and ammunition

▪

We're very short of guns and ammunition.

▪ hold a gun on sb, hold a gun to sb's head

▪

Two armed men held a gun to his head and made him empty the safe.

▪ a/the smoking gun (= something that shows that sb has done sth wrong or illegal)

▪

There's no smoking gun that they have found to date.

▪ turn a gun on yourself

▪

The gunman turned the gun on himself.

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verb

Gun is used with these nouns as the object: ↑engine