cannon

CEFRC1

/ˈkæn.ən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A large heavy gun used in war.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube.

Examples

  • Never use a cannon to kill a fly.

  • The cannon went off by accident.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar, which may include muzzle appendages.

  2. An autocannon.

  3. A bone of a horse’s leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock.

More examples

In context

  • water cannon; glitter cannon; confetti cannon; potato cannon

  • a canon of beef or lamb

  • Holonyms: gun, field gun; howitzer; mortar

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The soldiers fired the blank at the enemy castle walls during the siege.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na) (for more, see cane). Doublet of canyon. This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.