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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Gun \Gun\ (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin;
cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon)
fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E.
mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.]
1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance;
any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles,
consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which
the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such
as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by
various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and
fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are
called {small arms}. Larger guns are called {cannon},
{ordnance}, {fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc.
See these terms in the Vocabulary.
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As swift as a pellet out of a gunne
When fire is in the powder runne. --Chaucer.
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The word gun was in use in England for an engine to
cast a thing from a man long before there was any
gunpowder found out. --Selden.
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2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
cannon.
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3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
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Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or
manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore},
{breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or
{built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field},
{mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}.
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{Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named
after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.

{Big gun} or {Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence
(Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big
guns to tackle the problem.

{Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.

{Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or
moved.

{Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of
explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping
cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are
formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the
results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It
burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly
and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity.
Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are
insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the
highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and
cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and
somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded
with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for
making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun
cotton is frequenty but improperly called
{nitrocellulose}. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester
of nitric acid.

{Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.

{Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun
is fired.

{Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of
copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is
also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.

{Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a
cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.

{Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the
side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from
the gun port.

{Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two
single blocks and a fall. --Totten.

{Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named
after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.

{Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns,
mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a
reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the
gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier
models, such as the {Gatling gun}, the cartridges were
loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern
versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by
levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the
bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel.
Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such
weapons, with accurate aim. The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner
gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and {Nordenfelt gun}, named for
their inventors, and the French {mitrailleuse}, are
machine guns.

{To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n.,
3.
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Cast \Cast\ (k[.a]st), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cast}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Casting}.] [Cf. Dan. kaste, Icel. & Sw. kasta; perh. akin
to L. {gerere} to bear, carry. E. jest.]
1. To send or drive by force; to throw; to fling; to hurl; to
impel.
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Uzziah prepared . . . slings to cast stones. --2
Chron. xxvi.
14.
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Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. --Acts.
xii. 8.
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We must be cast upon a certain island. --Acts.
xxvii. 26.
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2. To direct or turn, as the eyes.
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How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me! --Shak.
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3. To drop; to deposit; as, to cast a ballot.
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4. To throw down, as in wrestling. --Shak.
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5. To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.
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Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.
--Luke xix.
48.
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6. To throw off; to eject; to shed; to lose.
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His filth within being cast. --Shak.
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Neither shall your vine cast her fruit. --Mal. iii.
11
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The creatures that cast the skin are the snake, the
viper, etc. --Bacon.
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7. To bring forth prematurely; to slink.
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Thy she-goats have not cast their young. --Gen. xxi.
38.
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8. To throw out or emit; to exhale. [Obs.]
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This . . . casts a sulphureous smell. --Woodward.
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9. To cause to fall; to shed; to reflect; to throw; as, to
cast a ray upon a screen; to cast light upon a subject.
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10. To impose; to bestow; to rest.
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The government I cast upon my brother. --Shak.
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Cast thy burden upon the Lord. --Ps. iv. 22.
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11. To dismiss; to discard; to cashier. [Obs.]
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The state can not with safety cast him.
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12. To compute; to reckon; to calculate; as, to cast a
horoscope. "Let it be cast and paid." --Shak.
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You cast the event of war, my noble lord. --Shak.
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13. To contrive; to plan. [Archaic]
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The cloister . . . had, I doubt not, been cast for
[an orange-house]. --Sir W.
Temple.
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14. To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict;
as, to be cast in damages.
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She was cast to be hanged. --Jeffrey.
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Were the case referred to any competent judge, they
would inevitably be cast. --Dr. H. More.
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15. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to
make preponderate; to decide; as, a casting voice.
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How much interest casts the balance in cases
dubious! --South.
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16. To form into a particular shape, by pouring liquid metal
or other material into a mold; to fashion; to found; as,
to cast bells, stoves, bullets.
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17. (Print.) To stereotype or electrotype.
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18. To fix, distribute, or allot, as the parts of a play
among actors; also to assign (an actor) for a part.
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Our parts in the other world will be new cast.
--Addison.
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{To cast anchor} (Naut.) See under {Anchor}.

{To cast a horoscope}, to calculate it.

{To cast a} {horse, sheep}, or other animal, to throw with
the feet upwards, in such a manner as to prevent its
rising again.

{To cast a shoe}, to throw off or lose a shoe, said of a
horse or ox.

{To cast aside}, to throw or push aside; to neglect; to
reject as useless or inconvenient.

{To cast away}.
(a) To throw away; to lavish; to waste. "Cast away a
life" --Addison.
(b) To reject; to let perish. "Cast away his people."
--Rom. xi. 1. "Cast one away." --Shak.
(c) To wreck. "Cast away and sunk." --Shak.

{To cast by}, to reject; to dismiss or discard; to throw
away.

{To cast down}, to throw down; to destroy; to deject or
depress, as the mind. "Why art thou cast down. O my soul?"
--Ps. xiii. 5.

{To cast forth}, to throw out, or eject, as from an inclosed
place; to emit; to send out.

{To cast in one's lot with}, to share the fortunes of.

{To cast in one's teeth}, to upbraid or abuse one for; to
twin.

{To cast lots}. See under {Lot}.

{To cast off}.
(a) To discard or reject; to drive away; to put off; to
free one's self from.
(b) (Hunting) To leave behind, as dogs; also, to set
loose, or free, as dogs. --Crabb.
(c) (Naut.) To untie, throw off, or let go, as a rope.

{To cast off copy}, (Print.), to estimate how much printed
matter a given amount of copy will make, or how large the
page must be in order that the copy may make a given
number of pages.

{To cast one's self on} or {To cast one's self upon} to yield
or submit one's self unreservedly to, as to the mercy of
another.

{To cast out}, to throw out; to eject, as from a house; to
cast forth; to expel; to utter.

{To cast the lead} (Naut.), to sound by dropping the lead to
the bottom.

{To cast the water} (Med.), to examine the urine for signs of
disease. [Obs.].

{To cast up}.
(a) To throw up; to raise.
(b) To compute; to reckon, as the cost.
(c) To vomit.
(d) To twit with; to throw in one's teeth.
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Cast \Cast\ (k[.a]st), v. i.
1. To throw, as a line in angling, esp, with a fly hook.
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2. (Naut.) To turn the head of a vessel around from the wind
in getting under weigh.
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Weigh anchor, cast to starboard. --Totten.
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3. To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan; as,
to cast about for reasons.
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She . . . cast in her mind what manner of salution
this should be. --Luke. i. 29.
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4. To calculate; to compute. [R.]
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Who would cast and balance at a desk. --Tennyson.
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5. To receive form or shape in a mold.
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It will not run thin, so as to cast and mold.
--Woodward.
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6. To warp; to become twisted out of shape.
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Stuff is said to cast or warp when . . . it alters
its flatness or straightness. --Moxon.
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7. To vomit.
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These verses . . . make me ready to cast. --B.
Jonson.
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Cast \Cast\,
3d pers. pres. of {Cast}, for Casteth. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Cast \Cast\, n. [Cf. Icel., Dan., & Sw. kast.]
1. The act of casting or throwing; a throw.
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2. The thing thrown.
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A cast of dreadful dust. --Dryden.
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3. The distance to which a thing is or can be thrown. "About
a stone's cast." --Luke xxii. 41.
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4. A throw of dice; hence, a chance or venture.
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An even cast whether the army should march this way
or that way. --Sowth.
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I have set my life upon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the die. --Shak.
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5. That which is throw out or off, shed, or ejected; as, the
skin of an insect, the refuse from a hawk's stomach, the
excrement of a earthworm.
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6. The act of casting in a mold.
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And why such daily cast of brazen cannon. --Shak.
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7. An impression or mold, taken from a thing or person;
amold; a pattern.
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8. That which is formed in a mild; esp. a reproduction or
copy, as of a work of art, in bronze or plaster, etc.; a
casting.
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9. Form; appearence; mien; air; style; as, a peculiar cast of
countenance. "A neat cast of verse." --Pope.
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An heroic poem, but in another cast and figure.
--Prior.
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And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.
--Shak.
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10. A tendency to any color; a tinge; a shade.
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Gray with a cast of green. --Woodward.
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11. A chance, opportunity, privilege, or advantage;
specifically, an opportunity of riding; a lift. [Scotch]
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We bargained with the driver to give us a cast to
the next stage. --Smollett.
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If we had the cast o' a cart to bring it. --Sir W.
Scott.
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12. The assignment of parts in a play to the actors.
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13. (Falconary) A flight or a couple or set of hawks let go
at one time from the hand. --Grabb.
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As when a cast of falcons make their flight.
--Spenser.
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14. A stoke, touch, or trick. [Obs.]
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This was a cast of Wood's politics; for his
information was wholly false. --Swift.
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15. A motion or turn, as of the eye; direction; look; glance;
squint.
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The cast of the eye is a gesture of aversion.
--Bacon.
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And let you see with one cast of an eye. --Addison.
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This freakish, elvish cast came into the child's
eye. --Hawthorne.
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16. A tube or funnel for conveying metal into a mold.
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17. Four; that is, as many as are thrown into a vessel at
once in counting herrings, etc; a warp.
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18. Contrivance; plot, design. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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{A cast of the eye}, a slight squint or strabismus.

{Renal cast} (Med.), microscopic bodies found in the urine of
persons affected with disease of the kidneys; -- so called
because they are formed of matter deposited in, and
preserving the outline of, the renal tubes.

{The last cast}, the last throw of the dice or last effort,
on which every thing is ventured; the last chance.
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