blunderbuss

Meaning

Noun

An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short, large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle, therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails, stones, shot, etc. at short range.

Verb

To shoot with a blunderbuss.

Synonyms

musket

muzzle-loader

flintlock

Translations

trabuco

tromblon

espingole

trabuc

donderbus

bacamarte

Donnerbüchse

Espingole

alaybozan

Stußer

Stußbüchse

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈblʌn.dəˌbʌs/

Etymology

From Dutch donderbus (“blunderbuss”, literally “thunder gun”), which was altered under the influence of blunder.