submachine gun

[ suhb-muh-sheen guhn ]

noun

1. a lightweight automatic or semiautomatic gun, fired from the shoulder or hip. : SMG

Word History and Origins

Origin of submachine gun¹

First recorded in 1915–20; sub- + machine gun

Example Sentences

As the five officers told it, Franklin overpowered three of them and gained control of a police submachine gun, wounding the two cops.

From Time

Peterson said Franklin now “had control of” both Durand and the submachine gun.

From Time

By the time Ronald Reagan officially launched the War on Drugs in 1984, gang members carried Uzis, MAC-10 submachine guns, and semiautomatic rifles to enforce contracts in the underground economy.

From Time

The cache included a submachine gun, pistols, revolvers, and enough Semtex to make 180 bombs.

From The Daily Beast

All you had to do was board with your submachine gun in a trombone case, as Martin McNally did at St. Louis airport in 1972.

From The Daily Beast

From out of nowhere appeared one Secret Service man with a submachine gun.

From Project Gutenberg

Bullets from a submachine gun clipped out, peppering the entrance and the door, and ricocheting down the hall.

From Project Gutenberg

Gordon spun, and the gun leaped in his hands, while the submachine gun jerked forward and clicked on an empty chamber.

From Project Gutenberg

He leaped aside and turned his submachine gun on the Germans.

From Project Gutenberg

"I'm going down after some grenades and a submachine gun," he hissed.

From Project Gutenberg