guns 1 of 2

Definition of gunsnext
plural of gun
as in weapons
large firearms (as cannons or rockets) the field commander called for the big guns to be deployed for the full-scale assault

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

guns

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of gun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of guns
Noun
Allen attempted to storm the dinner on foot, carrying multiple guns and knives, and planned to kill top officials, starting with the highest-ranking, according to the criminal complaint. Aysha Bagchi, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2026 After several minutes of police trying to get Steven Jones to drop the knife with their guns drawn, the three officers were able to form a circle around him with a sidewalk and small snowbank to his back, the video shows. Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 30 Apr. 2026 The government has also proposed limiting the number of guns someone can own to as few as four and implementing periodic reviews of existing gun licenses. ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026 To walk into situations where people with guns want to hurt us — and to stop them. The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026 But the weather turned colder last week, allowing the students, most of whom are preparing for jobs in the ski industry, to crank up the snowmaking guns last weekend. John Meyer, Denver Post, 30 Apr. 2026 Rather, the 45-year-old is hitting the ball faster than most of the young guns on the PGA TOUR. Geoff Clark Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026 In those cases, OpenAI is expected to notify police—which, in this case, already had a file on the shooter and had proactively removed guns from their home previously—but that’s not what happened. Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026 In a dramatic scene, officers were captured on video approaching the home with guns drawn, looking for a suspect. Austin Turner, CBS News, 22 Apr. 2026
Verb
Both guns the suspect used in the shooting were acquired legally in San Antonio in 2017, Davis said. Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 3 Mar. 2026 The military seemingly guns her down during a confrontation with Hopper and Eleven. Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Jan. 2026 One dog manages to escape the store, but Noem quickly catches up to it and brutally guns it down. Jack Dunn, Variety, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guns
Noun
  • Amodei cited the concern that Anthropic technology would be used for fully autonomous lethal weapons whose decisions were made without human involvement — and the potential for AI to be used for mass domestic surveillance on an unprecedented scale.
    U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026
  • In addition to SBIs to defend against missile attacks, Golden Dome will include lower-altitude and ground-based munitions suited for eliminating drones and other smaller, slower-moving aerial weapons.
    Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 25 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • In the annals of English football, this shoots close to the top of the list of ridiculous moments, along with Troy Deeney’s mad goal for Watford in the Championship play-offs in 2013 and Sergio Aguero’s Premier League title-winning strike for Manchester City in 2012.
    Phil Hay, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • There, surrounded by plush bunny toys, pink lace curtains and a cross on the wall, Slayyyter shoots her dad.
    Andrea Domanick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Residents described artillery fire before soldiers stormed the town in armored vehicles.
    ABC News, ABC News, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The massive site near De Soto was once home to a factory that produced gunpowder for artillery shells in World War II and rocket propellants during the Vietnam War.
    Hannah Wise, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Embiid, a 7-foot-0, 280-pound, 32-year-old native of Cameroon who won league MVP honors in 2023, participated in some of the Sixers’ drills just 15 days removed from emergency appendectomy surgery.
    Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
  • For kids, there will be a mobile video game truck, skills and drills stations, inflatables, balloon and caricature artist and a face painter.
    Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The volunteer dive team spent three years searching for the wreckage, eventually confirming its identity with the help of the Coast Guard Historians Office, which provided historical records, technical data and archival images of the ship's wheel, bell, deck fittings and weaponry.
    Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Back in 2008, Putin explained why Russia was bringing the tanks-and-missiles show back to Red Square in the first big display of weaponry since the Soviet collapse.
    Nathan Hodge, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Guns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guns. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on guns

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster