machine-gun

1 of 3

adjective

ma·​chine-gun mə-ˈshēn-ˌgən 

: characterized by rapidity and sharpness : rapid-fire

a comic's machine-gun delivery

machine-gun

2 of 3

verb

machine-gunned; machine-gunning; machine-guns

transitive verb

: 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

A few years later someone machine-gunned to death the prosecutor who wanted to try the group for killing the soldiers.

—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

machine gun

3 of 3

noun

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

Adjective

Curry was found to be in possession of six machine-gun conversion devices, silencers and unserialized firearms and receivers, the Attorney General’s Office said. —Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2026

The report details multiple instances in 2025 of grenades being dropped by Israeli drones near UNIFIL patrols, including an attack in October that wounded a peacekeeper, as well as machine-gun fire near UNIFIL positions. —Arkansas Online, 8 Feb. 2026

Verb

Police said three of the guns had been reported stolen, and one handgun was equipped with a machine-gun conversion device. —Sergio Candido, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026

Their recording was a kinetic thrashathon with machine-gun-fast guitar notes and solos and Hetfield’s convincing screams for mercy. —Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025

Noun

Jara was a public figure, a musician whose work had become intertwined with democratic aspiration and uplifting the working class, so much that it was said that his music was more powerful than a thousand machine guns. —Christina Hioureas, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2026

Cubans have now been treated to the surreal sight of the island’s most famous living musician, Silvio Rodriguez, receiving a machine gun alongside the Cuban president and top military officials. —Patrick Oppmann, CNN Money, 22 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1906, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1894, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1867, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

machine gun

noun

: an automatic gun capable of continuous firing

machine-gun verb

machine gunner noun