as in machine gun
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Recent Examples of tommy gun
Fabio Bertoni, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2025
Gauging from the trailer, this grisly period piece appears to be set in the South with Jordan starring in a dual role as a pair of twins, at least one of whom gets to spray bullets with a retro tommy gun.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025
That applies to all the dialogue, which doesn’t change at all from character to character, each of them firing off pop culture references like a tommy gun.
—Joshua Alston, Variety, 11 Jan. 2023
On the back of the bottle was a ghost engraving: the original G-man in a fedora, toting a tommy gun.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
The image of a mask-wearing authoritarian pointing a tommy gun at first looks like irresistible kitsch but now seems disturbingly accurate for the COVID apocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Aug. 2021
In the 1930s, the fee doubled the cost of a new tommy gun.
—Adam Weinstein, The New Republic, 20 Apr. 2020
The decade was also rife with poisonous bathtub gin, murderous Mafia dons, and the merciless rat-a-tat of tommy guns, as well as myriad political and cultural struggles simmering beneath the surface.
—Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, 17 Jan. 2020
David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Apr. 2025
Noun
After speeches by longtime colleagues (the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, presented him with a replica tommy gun), Garland spoke.
—Fabio Bertoni, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2025
Gauging from the trailer, this grisly period piece appears to be set in the South with Jordan starring in a dual role as a pair of twins, at least one of whom gets to spray bullets with a retro tommy gun.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025
That applies to all the dialogue, which doesn’t change at all from character to character, each of them firing off pop culture references like a tommy gun.
—Joshua Alston, Variety, 11 Jan. 2023
On the back of the bottle was a ghost engraving: the original G-man in a fedora, toting a tommy gun.
—Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2022
The image of a mask-wearing authoritarian pointing a tommy gun at first looks like irresistible kitsch but now seems disturbingly accurate for the COVID apocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Aug. 2021
In the 1930s, the fee doubled the cost of a new tommy gun.
—Adam Weinstein, The New Republic, 20 Apr. 2020
The decade was also rife with poisonous bathtub gin, murderous Mafia dons, and the merciless rat-a-tat of tommy guns, as well as myriad political and cultural struggles simmering beneath the surface.
—Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, 17 Jan. 2020
Verb
His tommy-gun dialogue, much of it laced with withering invective and punctuated with profanity, started a shift in the language of both theater and movies in this country.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tommy gun
Noun
-
Handguns can be modified through switches, effectively turning a handgun into a machine gun, meaning holding the trigger will fire bullets rapidly until the trigger is released by the shooter.—
David Clarey,
jsonline.com,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Two other 16-year-old boys were arrested for dangerous possession of a firearm and possession of a machine gun related to the shooting.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The pamphlet offered instructions for how to acoustically recognize an incoming threat and how to determine whether the source is machine-gun fire, artillery fire, rocket launchers, or an air raid.—
Joanna Warsza,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
-
In a startling image, a pregnant Perfidia fires off rounds with a machine-gun butt pressed against her swollen belly.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Police learned Pyles owns a handgun and a submachine gun, according to charging documents.—
Jose R. Gonzalez,
AZCentral.com,
20 Aug. 2025
-
Rock’s talent includes shooting down German fighter planes with a single submachine gun and tossing grenades with great accuracy.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
One casing is a 9mm caliber, likely a pistol, or a machine pistol or a submachine gun, Weir said.—
Mohammad Al Sawalhi,
CNN,
26 June 2024
-
Prosecutors said police found two weapons in the getaway car when the men were detained on a highway about 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside Amsterdam, a Heckler and Koch machine pistol and, in a Louis Vuitton bag, a blank-firing pistol that had been modified to take 9-millimeter rounds.—
MIKE CORDER,
ajc,
18 Oct. 2021
Noun
-
The incident comes one week after a man rammed his pickup truck into the front of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and opened fire with an assault rifle, killing four worshipers and injuring eight others.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Eyewitnesses told authorities Sanford got out of his truck shooting at members with an assault rifle then set off an inferno as terrified members rushed to get everyone out of the building.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
What happened next, according to first responders, Jasper's aunt Amber Rosen, churchgoers, hospital officials and family members of those impacted, is a blur of violence and terror with the pop-pop-pop of an assault weapon and thick black smoke from fire hanging in the air.—
Georgea Kovanis,
Freep.com,
5 Oct. 2025
-
In a plea deal with prosecutors, Sir Cameron Young, 23, pleaded no contest to an assault weapon possession charge in exchange for the probation sentence.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tommy gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tommy%20gun. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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