small-arm

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Noun

small-arm - a portable gun; "he wore his firearm in a shoulder holster"

firearm, piece

autoloader, self-loader - a firearm that reloads itself

firing pin - striker that ignites the charge by striking the primer

gun - a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)

lock - a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun

muzzle loader - an obsolete firearm that was loaded through the muzzle

handgun, pistol, shooting iron, side arm - a firearm that is held and fired with one hand

repeating firearm, repeater - a firearm that can fire several rounds without reloading

rifle - a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore; "he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired"

riot gun - a firearm designed to disperse rioters rather than to inflict serious injury or death

scattergun, shotgun - firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges

sights - an optical instrument for aiding the eye in aiming, as on a firearm or surveying instrument

smoothbore - a firearm that has no rifling

.22, twenty-two - a .22 caliber firearm (pistol or rifle)

References in classic literature ?

The commander of the felucca, who proved to be Ja, let them come quite close and then turned loose upon them a volley of shots from small-arms.

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On receiving this united discharge of small-arms, the front of the flock darted upward, while, at the same instant, myriads of those in the rear rushed with amazing rapidity into their places, so that, when the column of white smoke gushed from the mouth of the little cannon, an accumulated mass of objects was gliding over its point of direction.

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The balance of those on deck replied to our small-arms fire, directing their efforts toward the man at our wheel.

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The trade in small-arms was enormously stimulated, and many overwrought citizens found an immediate relief for their emotions in letting off fireworks of a more or less heroic, dangerous, and national character in the public streets.

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"There are ten of us down there on a German sub with small-arms and a gun," he said quickly in English.

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Although the impacts of these weapons can be vastly different for women and men, girls and boys, a careful consideration of gender and age is rare in the formulation of small-arms policy, planning small-arms collection or control, or even in small-arms research.

Sexed Pistols: the gendered impacts of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Summary: Russia will supply $1.8bn-worth of small-arms and other weapons to Libya, according to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russia and Libya Sign $1.8bn Arms Deal

ANSF and Coalition forces responded to the attack with small-arms fire, killing two militants.

Three militants killed in Helmand

The major attack on the checkpoint was carried out by "a large group of criminals engaging with small-arms fire" at around 6.35 pm (1535 GMT) on Sunday.

Fierce clashes kill 38 in Baghdad

The sixth soldier also died from small arms fire on Tuesday by small-arms fire in eastern Baghdad.

Four British soldiers killed in Iraq blast

According to various estimates, state-sponsored small-arms trade represents 13 percent of all arms sales and constitutes anywhere from between $3 billion and $6 billion annually.