blunderbuss
verbEtymology From Dutch donderbus (“blunderbuss”, literally “thunder gun”), which was altered under the influence of blunder.
1
To shoot with a blunderbuss.
blunderbuss
nounUK /ˈblʌn.dəˌbʌs/ · US /ˈblʌn.dɚˌbʌs/
Etymology From Dutch donderbus (“blunderbuss”, literally “thunder gun”), which was altered under the influence of blunder.
1
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.
- 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.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, page 354:
- One of the most picturesque of the old flintlock guns is the blunderbuss, which was often carried by coach guards for protection against highwaymen.June 1942, Carl G. Erich, “Flintlock Blunderbuss”, in Popular Science:
1 more example
- The blunderbuss never gained great favor in the American colonies or early United States.2007, Norm Flayderman, Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms, Gun Digest Books, →ISBN, page 764: