blunderbuss

noun blun·der·buss \ ˈblən-dər-ˌbəs \

Updated on: 20 Mar 2018

Definition of blunderbuss

1 : a muzzle-loading firearm with a short barrel and flaring muzzle to facilitate loading

2 : a blundering person

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Examples of blunderbuss in a Sentence

leave it to that blunderbuss to bungle a job that a child could do

Recent Examples of blunderbuss from the Web

The Senate this week will debate a bipartisan bill that would relax some of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law’s blunderbuss regulations.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Warren Democrats for Wall Street," 5 Mar. 2018
Over the past two and a half years, Trump blasted away at the lazy conventional wisdom on immigration with a blunderbuss; getting something to show for it legislatively will now require some deftness and guile.

— rich lowry, National Review, "Durbin-Graham Is the Problem, Not the Solution," 26 Jan. 2018
The Nevada State Museum, just a few blocks from the capitol in Carson City, has an extensive firearms collection on display, everything from blunderbusses to Gatling guns.

— christopher palmeri, Bloomberg.com, "Gun-Culture Tourism Thrives in Las Vegas," 4 Oct. 2017
There were Nazis on the moon, time-traveling blunderbusses, Mandingoes, and for the love of John Carter, a vampire throwing a horse at Abraham Lincoln.

— ruth suehle, WIRED, "Can 2013 Beat The Amazing Year of Movies That Was 2012?," 4 Jan. 2013

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blunderbuss.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.