Gatling gun

[ gat-ling ]

noun

1. an early type of machine gun consisting of a revolving cluster of barrels around a central axis, each barrel being automatically loaded and fired every revolution of the cluster.

Gatling gun

/ ˈɡætlɪŋ /

noun

1. a hand-cranked automatic machine gun equipped with a rotating cluster of barrels that are fired in succession using brass cartridges

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gatling gun¹

1860–65, Americanism; named after R. J. Gatling (1818–1903), U.S. inventor

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gatling gun¹

C19: named after R. J. Gatling (1818–1903), its US inventor

Example Sentences

So it was a Gatling gun of wins, just one after another.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s the freedom state of Florida. If they disagree with the governor, he brings out the Gatling gun.”

From Seattle Times

Video from the engagement appears to show one drone engaged by an air defense system known as a C-RAM, which fires a six-barreled Gatling gun up to 75 rounds per second.

From Washington Post

He ascended to the NFL beat at the Washington Times, and one colleague later wrote that Hurney’s “prose had the lyrical quality of a Gatling gun, but he could find news.”

From Washington Post

An outlaw woman helps one Arizona convict stop another with a Gatling gun.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• submachine gun