handgun

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hand·gun

(hănd′gŭn′)

A firearm that can be used with one hand.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

handgun

(ˈhændˌɡʌn)

(Firearms, Gunnery, Ordnance & Artillery) a firearm that can be held, carried, and fired with one hand, such as a pistol

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hand•gun

(ˈhændˌgʌn)

n.

any firearm that can be held and fired with one hand; a revolver or a pistol.

[1400–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

handgun - a firearm that is held and fired with one hand

pistol, shooting iron, side arm

automatic pistol, automatic - a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released

derringer - a pocket pistol of large caliber with a short barrel

firearm, small-arm, piece - a portable gun; "he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster"

forty-five - a .45-caliber pistol

gat, rod - a gangster's pistol

horse pistol, horse-pistol - a large pistol (usually in a holster) formerly carried by horsemen

peacekeeper - the pistol of a law officer in the old West

revolver, six-gun, six-shooter - a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)

Saturday night special - a cheap handgun that is easily obtained

semiautomatic, semiautomatic pistol - a pistol that is a semiautomatic firearm capable of loading and firing continuously

gunstock, stock - the handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun; "the rifle had been fitted with a special stock"

Verey pistol, Very pistol - a pistol for firing Very-light flares

zip gun - a crude homemade pistol

handgun

noun pistol, automatic, revolver, shooter (informal), piece (U.S. slang), rod (U.S. slang), derringer A man armed with a small grey handgun escaped with a sum of money.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

Pistole

pistola rivoltella

handgun

[ˈhændgʌn] N (esp US) → revólver m, pistola f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

handgun

hand gun [ˈhændgʌn] n → arme f de poinghand-held handheld [ˌhændˈhɛld]

adj [device] → portatif/ive; [computer] → de poche; [camera] → de reportage

[ˈhændhɛld] n (= computer) → ordinateur m de poche

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

handgun

n pistola

References in periodicals archive ?

The UC Davis School of Medicine study, published August 25 in Injury Epidemiology, assessed the sharp rise in handgun purchasing across 499 California cities and estimated whether the additional handguns increased fatal and non-fatal injuries in these communities.

UC Davis - Spikes in handgun purchases after high-profile events linked to more firearm injuries

The class will focus on basic safety for handgun owners and their families, proper cleaning and storage of handguns, and Illinois laws concerning possession of firearms.

Sheriff offers handgun safety class

I live in a small town and shoot my handguns regularly, but I haven't hunted in years-and that was with a rifle or shotgun.

Hunting Small Game with a Handgun?

Handguns were less commonly seen in those days, at least in farming communities where firearms were considered simply as tools.

WHAT? HUH? NO .22 RIFLES?

Those who carried handguns were more likely to grow up in firearm-owning households and said security is a top reason for walking around with a deadly weapon, according to the report, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Study: Three Million Americans Carry A Gun Daily

According to research compiled by Southwick Associates, shooters and hunters spent more than $3 billion on new handguns in 2015.

Focus: handgun sales: semi-autos continue market dominance

Q I am a left-handed shooter and have often wondered if all semiautomatic handguns eject to the right.

Left-ejecting pistols?

Texas lawmakers hoping to make it legal to openly carry handguns in the state often point to a surprising statistic: Texas is one of just six states that prohibit it.

Houston, Dallas Would Be Largest Cities to Allow Open Carry

Across the country, more and more women are becoming fans of handguns, concealed carry and recreational shooting.

Shoot like a girl: women are more interested in handguns than ever

The ACP is a housing into which you install your handgun. Obviously, it accepts Sig handguns, and the Mk25 Sig, in 9mm, was the test gun I used to try out the ACP.

GRAB and GO: Sig-Sauer's Adaptive Carbine Platform: high-tech update of an old concept

Greatest Handguns of the World Volume 2 provides a companion volume that picks up where GREATEST HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD left off, and covers many more handguns that didn't make the cut in the first book.

Greatest Handguns of the World Volume 2

In the early days of the metallic cartridge many cartridges were used in both rifles and handguns, because most early cartridges were rimfires.