M16

or M-16

[ em-siks-teen ]

Trademark.

1. a lightweight, gas-operated, magazine-fed assault rifle with a caliber of .223 inches, used for fully automatic or semiautomatic fire: a U.S. Army combat weapon for mobile units since 1963. Compare AK-47 ( def ), AR-15 ( def ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of M16¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

He says he was detained with M16 rifles in his face, strip-searched, and interrogated for 12 hours.

From Los Angeles Times

Years of violent confrontation between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups have been etched into Jenin's narrow pathways – bullet-holes scattered across walls, piles of rubble left by military bulldozers, graffiti in the shape of M16 rifles, along with the name "Hamas".

From BBC

Israel says it has killed 20 armed fighters in the operation and recovered weapons including M16 rifles and explosive devices.

From BBC

Vance, who has repeatedly accused Walz of “stolen valor,” doubled down on his attacks in a speech this week in a Philadelphia speech in which he joked that, “before the end of the campaign, Tim Walz is going to be talking about how he was carrying an M16 through the jungles of Vietnam.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Before the end of the campaign, Tim Walz is going to be talking about how he was carrying an M16 through the jungles of Vietnam,” Vance said Monday.

From Los Angeles Times