submachine gun

noun sub·ma·chine gun \ ˌsəb-mə-ˈshēn-ˌgən \

Updated on: 6 Apr 2018

Definition of submachine gun

: a portable automatic firearm that uses pistol-type ammunition and is fired from the shoulder or hip

See submachine gun defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of submachine gun from the Web

And in January, Mercer’s manufacturer rolled out a new product: a civilian version of the German submachine gun known as the MP5.

— zachary mider, Bloomberg.com, "Robert Mercer’s Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop," 28 Mar. 2018
Part 10: While followers talked about free love, the Rajneeshees armed themselves with assault weapons, grenade launchers and submachine guns, turning Rajneeshpuram into one of the most-heavily armed places in the state.

— grant butler, OregonLive.com, "Read The Oregonian's original 20-part investigative series on Rajneeshees," 20 Mar. 2018
Trenchcoats and submachine guns Unit 124’s plan had fallen apart almost immediately after the encounter with the Woo brothers.

— mac william bishop, NBC News, "North Korean ex-assassin recalls 1968: ‘The year that mattered most’," 26 Jan. 2018
Quickly, her investigators found reports of widespread defects in police service weapons—both pistols and long rifles, including the SMT-40 submachine gun—across Brazil.

— michael smith, Bloomberg.com, "How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can’t Be Recalled," 28 Feb. 2018
In July 2017, Tinôco filed a 174-page lawsuit in federal court in Aracaju asking a judge to order Taurus to stop making 10 models of handguns and submachine guns and recall all of them in circulation in Brazil, alleging the guns were defective.

— michael smith, Bloomberg.com, "How Defective Guns Became the Only Product That Can’t Be Recalled," 28 Feb. 2018
In one, the massacre at a McDonald’s in San Ysidro, California, in 1984, the shooter used an Uzi submachine gun.

— Washington Post, "Mass shootings aren’t more frequent — but they are deadlier," 11 Dec. 2017
Shemel was babysitting her 3-year-old cousin in May 2016 when authorities say Stephens forced his way into the apartment in the New York City borough and shot her three times with a submachine gun.

— breanna edwards, The Root, "NYC Teen Used Dying Breath to Identify the Man Who Shot Her After She Rejected His Advances, Officers Testify," 12 Dec. 2017
Shemel Mercurius, 16, was babysitting her 3-year-old cousin when Taariq Stephens came to her door and shot her three times with a submachine gun.

— Essence.com, "Brooklyn Teenager Uses Last Breath To Identify Man Who Killed Her After She Turned Down His Advances," 12 Dec. 2017

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