ma·chine-gun
mə-ˈshēn-ˌgən 
: characterized by rapidity and sharpness : rapid-fire
a comic's machine-gun delivery
machine-gunned; machine-gunning; machine-guns
: to shoot at, wound, or kill (someone or something) with a machine gun
… machine-gunned a marauding gang of terrorists outside the U.S. embassy …—
Terry Eagleton
Terry EagletonA few years later someone machine-gunned to death the prosecutor who wanted to try the group for killing the soldiers.—Paul Berman
Paul Berman
machine gunner
noun
or less commonly machine-gunner
plural machine gunners also machine-gunners
These battalions were composed of the hardened infantrymen—riflemen, machine gunners, grenadiers, and mortarmen—who carried the main burden of the war.
—Shelby L. Stanton
Shelby L. Stanton
plural machine guns
: a gun for sustained rapid fire that uses bullets
broadly
: an automatic weapon
Examples of machine-gun in a Sentence
Noun
They heard the sound of machine-gun fire.
Recent Examples on the Web
Joanna Warsza, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
In a startling image, a pregnant Perfidia fires off rounds with a machine-gun butt pressed against her swollen belly.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
The pamphlet offered instructions for how to acoustically recognize an incoming threat and how to determine whether the source is machine-gun fire, artillery fire, rocket launchers, or an air raid.
—Joanna Warsza, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
In September, the Ukrainian military’s chief of staff, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said light aircraft mounted with machine guns were proving effective in intercepting Russian drones and the military would consider buying more.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for machine-gun
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Adjective
The pamphlet offered instructions for how to acoustically recognize an incoming threat and how to determine whether the source is machine-gun fire, artillery fire, rocket launchers, or an air raid.
—Joanna Warsza, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
In a startling image, a pregnant Perfidia fires off rounds with a machine-gun butt pressed against her swollen belly.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
Johnson put the toy/comics/cartoons franchise on his large shoulders playing the machine-gunning Cobra hater.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
The pamphlet offered instructions for how to acoustically recognize an incoming threat and how to determine whether the source is machine-gun fire, artillery fire, rocket launchers, or an air raid.
—Joanna Warsza, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
Noun
This includes the engine’s cylinder heads, valves, pistons, fuel system pipes, machine gun components, fuselage, the wings and the cockpit panel pieces, according to the BBC.
—Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
In September, the Ukrainian military’s chief of staff, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said light aircraft mounted with machine guns were proving effective in intercepting Russian drones and the military would consider buying more.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for machine-gun
Cite this Entry
“Machine-gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machine-gun. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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