1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

smoothbores

noun

plural of smoothbore
as in breechloaders

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smoothbores
  1. muskets
  2. firearms
  3. pistols
  4. small arms
  5. handguns
Noun
  • Back then, students halted studies to pick up rifles, muskets, and bayonets.
    — Ira Porter, Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2026
  • The new United States needed muskets, cannons, ammunition, uniforms, cloth, food and credit.
    — R. Grant Gilmore III, The Conversation, 30 June 2026
Definition of muskets
Noun
  • Police encourage residents to secure their firearms and use gun locks, Calzada said.
    — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Officers also found several large shipping boxes containing precious metals, two unregistered firearms, and more than $105,000 in cash, according to the sheriff’s department.
    — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of firearms
Noun
  • In one black storage bin, agents found pistols beneath a lead plate.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The ruling does not apply to the country's most popular firearms, such as AR-15s and Glock pistols, which are standard weapons available for sale commercially and regulated largely under a different federal law.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of pistols
Noun
  • Those roads and trails are often where vehicles become vulnerable to artillery, drones, mines, and small arms fire.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 Aug. 2026
  • The roadmap speaks of the new administration empowering individual Palestinians to keep their small arms.
    — Dan Williams, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of small arms
Noun
  • There are still over 900 handguns that are available for purchase within California, according to the state's handgun roster.
    — Noe Padilla, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of handguns
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

smoothbore
smoothbores
smoothed
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Smoothbores.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smoothbores. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All