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Shotgun vs Blunderbuss - What's the difference?

shotgun | blunderbuss |

As nouns the difference between shotgun and blunderbuss

is that shotgun is a gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge while blunderbuss is an old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle, therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc. at short range.

As a verb shotgun

is to inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.

As an adjective shotgun

is of or relating to a shotgun.

shotgun

English

Alternative forms

* shot-gun

Noun

  • (label) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.
  • (slang) The front passenger seat in a vehicle, next to the driver; so called because the position of the shotgun-armed guard on a horse-drawn stage-coach, wagon train, or gold transport was next to the driver on a forward-mounted bench seat.
    • I call shotgun ! (I claim the right to sit in the passenger seat.)
  • (US) A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line. Mostly heard in the southern United States.
    • Elvis Presley was born in a two-bedroom shotgun in Tupelo, Mississippi.
  • (American football) A play formation in which the quarterback is a few feet behind the snapper when the ball is hiked, ideally allowing for an easier pass play.

    • Synonyms

    * (gun which fires loads of small metal balls) scattergun

    Derived terms

    * double-barrelled shotgun * ride shotgun * sawn-off shotgun / sawed-off shotgun * shotgun sequencing * shotgun shack * shotgun wedding * shotty

    Verb

    (shotgunn)
  • (slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.
  • (informal) To verbally lay claim to (something)
    • I got a day off because I shotgunned it.
  • (baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
  • (US, slang) To rapidly drink a beverage from a can by making a hole in the bottom of the can, placing the hole above one's mouth, and opening the top.

    • Adjective

    (-)
  • Of or relating to a shotgun.
    • The ground was littered with shotgun shells.
  • Occurring as a result of the threat of force.
    • a shotgun wedding
  • Utilizing numerous or highly diverse means to achieve a particular result.

    • Anagrams

    * *

    blunderbuss

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle, therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc. at short range.
  • * 1817 , Merriweather Lewis & William Clark, Travels to the Source of the Missouri River, and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean , Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown (1817), page 354:
    • We fired the blunderbuss several times by way of salute, and soon after landed at the bank near the village of the Mahahas, or Shoe Indians, and were received by a crowd of people, who came to welcome our return.
  • * 1942 , Carl G. Erich, " Flintlock Blunderbuss", Popular Science , June 1942:
    • One of the most picturesque of the old flintlock guns is the blunderbuss , which was often carried by coach guards for protection against highwaymen.
  • * 2007 , Norm Flayderman, Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms , Gun Digest Books (2007), ISBN 9781440226519, page 764:
    • The blunderbuss never gained great favor in the American colonies or early United States.

    External links

    * (wikipedia "blunderbuss")

    References

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