Thompson submachine gun

noun

1. a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Thompson submachine gun¹

1920–25; named after J. T. Thompson (1860–1940), American army officer who aided in its invention

Example Sentences

He fought in three of its five major battles, as well as in many lesser engagements, armed with a Thompson submachine gun.

From New York Times

It found that the product's bottle, which is shaped like a Thompson submachine gun - commonly known as a Tommy gun - created "a direct link between the drink and a dangerous weapon".

From BBC

Other historical targets of regulation have included long-bladed Bowie knives and the Thompson submachine gun, or Tommy gun, popular with gangsters in the years after World War I.

From Washington Times

He had learned to shoot a Thompson submachine gun and interrogate Nazis.

From New York Times

Mangrum, Sam said, was reputed to have surreptitiously executed a group of German POWs with his Thompson submachine gun.

From Golf Digest