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

While the drills are routine and generally held a few times a month, base officials are getting the word out to the public and nearby neighborhoods because the sound of machine-gun fire and the base’s Giant Voice mass notification loudspeaker system can typically be heard more than a mile away. —Erika I. Ritchie, Oc Register, 9 Apr. 2026

But the recent war on Iran suggests that the current machine-gun politics approach toward Tehran and the Middle East favored by the U.S. and Israel comes with serious costs and risks. —Ioana Emy Matesan, The Conversation, 9 Apr. 2026

Verb

Iranian speed boats raking ships with machine-gun fire in the Strait of Hormuz. —Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026

Senior Lieutenant Ivan Kavun, the commander of a machine-gun platoon in the 30th Mechanized Brigade, spent 486 days in a frontline deployment, according to his unit. —Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN Money, 20 Apr. 2026

Noun

Instead of bearing fishing poles, most have Soviet-era heavy machine guns bolted to their bows with a small rocket launcher atop. —Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026

While taking fire in thigh-deep snow, Chapman cleared an enemy bunker before charging a second one with a machine gun. —Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 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