Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A large mounted weapon that fires heavy projectiles. Cannon include guns, howitzers, and mortars.
- noun The loop at the top of a bell by which it is hung.
- noun A round bit for a horse.
- noun Zoology The section of the lower leg in some hoofed mammals between the hock or knee and the fetlock, containing the cannon bone.
- noun Chiefly British A carom made in billiards.
- intransitive verb To bombard with cannon.
- intransitive verb Chiefly British To cause to carom in billiards.
- intransitive verb To fire cannon.
- intransitive verb Chiefly British To make a carom in billiards.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In loading logs by steam- or horse-power, to send up (a log) so that it swings crosswise, instead of parallel to the load.
- To discharge cannon; cannonade.
- In billiards, to make a cannon or carom; hence, to strike one thing and then rebound and strike another; carom.
- noun An engine, supported on a stationary or movable frame called a gun-carriage, for throwing balls and other missiles by the force of gunpowder; a big gun; a piece of ordnance.
- noun In machinery, a hollow cylindrical piece through which a revolving shaft passes, and which, may revolve independently, and with a greater or less speed than that of the shaft.
- noun That part of a bit let into the horse's mouth. Also canon, cannon-bit, canon-bit.
- noun The cannon-bone.
- noun The ear or loop of a bell by which it is suspended. Also spelled
canon . - noun In surgery, an instrument used in sewing up wounds.
- noun plural Ornamental rolls which terminated the breeches or hose at the knee. Minsheu, 1617. Also written canions, cannions, and canons.
- noun [⟨ cannon, v., 2.] In billiards, a carom: little used in the United States, but common in Great Britain. See
carom .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To discharge cannon.
- intransitive verb To collide or strike violently, esp. so as to glance off or rebound; to strike and rebound.
- (Billiards), engraving See
carom . - noun A great gun; a piece of ordnance or artillery; a firearm for discharging heavy shot with great force.
- noun (Mech.) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.
- noun (Printing.) A kind of type. See
Canon . - noun strictly, a round solid missile of stone or iron made to be fired from a cannon, but now often applied to a missile of any shape, whether solid or hollow, made for cannon. Elongated and cylindrical missiles are sometimes called
bolts ; hollow ones charged with explosives are properly calledshells . - noun [Obs.] a cannon ball.
- noun a fire cracker of large size.
- noun a device for firing a cannon by a percussion primer.
- noun See
Gun Metal . - noun the pinion on the minute hand arbor of a watch or clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be moved in setting.
- noun impenetrable by cannon balls.
- noun The range of a cannon.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A large-
bore machine gun . - noun A bone of a horse's leg, between the
fetlock joint and the knee or hock. - noun historical A large
muzzle -loadingartillery piece. - noun sports, billiards, snooker, pool A
carom . - noun baseball The arm of a player that can throw well.
- verb To
bombard with cannons - verb sports, billiards, snooker, pool To play the
carom billiard shot. To strike two balls with thecue ball - verb To
fire something, especially spherical, rapidly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun heavy gun fired from a tank
- noun lower part of the leg extending from the hock to the fetlock in hoofed mammals
- verb fire a cannon
- noun a shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other
- noun heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane
- noun (Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect the arm
- noun a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels
- verb make a cannon
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cannon.
Examples
-
Once the cannon is aimed properly and fired, the cannonball hits the ship on its own, driven solely by the laws of physics.
Time travel just got (theoretically) easier... ewillett 2007
-
Am i the only one to notice where the cannon is aiming?
-
The Macross has its massive main cannon, which can take out numerous enemy capital ships at once.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross vs. Battlestar Galactica 2009
-
If the cannon is using stone shot and firing into a stone environment (like most towns), this damage comes from stone fragments (slashing), or if the cannon is using any solid shot and firing into a wooden environment (like a ship), the damage comes from wooden shivers (piercing).
-
Being a loose cannon is part of her bad-girl, tattooed, Jessica Rabbit appeal.
Did Megan Fox's mouth kill her 'Transformers' character? | EW.com 2009
-
The Macross has its massive main cannon, which can take out numerous enemy capital ships at once.
Archive 2009-06-01 2009
-
However, the soldiers, not knowing the business end of a phaser cannon from the charging coil end, assumed that the aliens were preparing to attack.
365 tomorrows » 2009 » February : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2009
-
A failure by up to 5 indicates that the cannon is fouled and requires 2 full rounds to clear before it can be reloaded.
-
August 5, 2009 12: 22 PM wonder how they will cost out areas with no home delivery, as we have in cannon beach?
Post Office deserting downtown Portland? (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009
-
Castle, and extensive nearby properties, for charitable purposes, including, by 1810, a National School in the village of Bamborough, and an officer to fire a cannon from the dangerous rocks every fifteen minutes in foggy weather, besides providing for the education of thirty girls within the castle walls.
Letter 304 2009
chained_bear commented on the word cannon
Captured at Yorktown and Gloucester, "60 pieces brass cannon, 150 iron ditto (meaning "the same")," as well as "70 barrels powder" (meaning gunpowder) and 80 ships. This, the newspaper notes, is just the beginning of the list: "Remainder not come to hand." (Salem, Mass. Gazette, November 15, 1781)
October 29, 2007
cathari commented on the word cannon
People who spell this "canon" need to be dragged out in the street and shot. ;)
November 1, 2007
yarb commented on the word cannon
Citation (in the sense of part of a horse's leg) on withers.
July 4, 2008