gumption 
One does not have </<""j''<'<"i till one has been properly 
cheated. Bitlmr, Eugene Aram, i. 0. 
What the French applaud and not amiss 
As "savoir-faire" (I do not know the Dutch); 
The literal Germans call it "Mutterwiss," 
The Yankees yuinptiun, and the Grecians "nous " 
A useful thing to have about the house. 
J. 0. Saxc, The Wife's Revenge. 
Mr. Miller's is what that teacher and lloyal Academi- 
cian, who was a man of zeal, often called "a book full of 
gumption." Athenceuin, Jan. 14, 1883, p. 55. 
guinptionless (gump'shpn-les), a. [Also IJIIIH- 
xlionless; < gumption + -MM.] Without gump- 
tion or understanding ; foolish. [Colloq.] 
gumptious (gump'shus), a. [Also gumshus ; 
cf. gumption.] 1. Having gumption; having 
quick perception and good judgment. 2. Su- 
percilious; conceitedly proud. [Colloq. and 
prov. Eng.] 
"She holds her head higher, I think," said the landlord, 
smiling. "She was always not exactly proud like, but 
what I calls yumptioui." Bulwer, Sly Novel, iv. 12. 
gum-rash (gum'rash), n. Same as red-gum. 
gum-resin (gum'rez'in), n. A vegetable secre- 
tion formed of resin mixed with more or less 
gum or mucilage. The gum-resins do not flow natu- 
rally from plants, but are mostly extracted by incision, in 
the form of white, yellow, or red emulsive fluids, which 
dry and consolidate. The more Important are olibanum, 
galbanum, scammony, gamboge, euphorbiurn, asafetida, 
aloes, myrrh, and ammoniac. 
gum-Stick (gum'stik), n. A small piece of some 
hard substance, as of ivory or coral, given to 
children to bite on for the purpose of relieving 
the pains of teething. 
gumtiont (gum'shon), n. [A trade-name, irreg. 
< gunft + -tion, perhaps suggested by the form 
of gumption.] Magilp, as made by drying gum 
mastic into a strong drying oil in which sugar 
of lead was substituted for the litharge pre- 
viously used. The name is not now in use. 
See magilp. 
gumtop-tree (gum'top-tre), . An Australian 
tree, Eucalyptus Sieberiana. 
gum-tree (gum'tre), n. See gum 2 , 3. 
gum-water (gum'wa"ter), n. A distillation 
from gum. 
gum-wood (gum'wud), n. 1. The wood of a 
gum-tree. 2. A plant of the genus Commiden- 
dron, an arborescent composite peculiar to the 
island of St. Helena. [Properly gumwood.] 
gun 1 (gun), n. [< ME. gunne, gonne, rarely goone, 
goune, gune; origin unknown. The word oc- 
curs first in the 14th century, applied both to 
guns in the mod. sense, and also (appar. ear- 
lier) to engines of the mangonel or catapult 
kind, for throwing stones, etc.; the ML. glosses, 
lie, petraria, fundibulum, murusculum, 
gunna, etc., are consequently ambiguous. On 
the supposition that the sense of ' mangonel ' 
or 'catapult' is the earlier, some have as- 
sumed that ME. gonne is an 
' ' fl v abbr. of OF. *mangonne for 
mangoimel, mangonel, etc., 
a mangonel (for throwing 
stones, etc.): see mango- 
nel, mangle 2 . Others have 
sought the origin in Celtic ; 
but the Ir. Gael, gunna, W. 
gwn, a gun, are rather from 
ME.] If. A military en- 
gine of the mangonel or 
catapult kind, used for 
throwing stones. 
They dradde noon assaut 
Of gynne, gunne, nor skaffaut. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4178. 
The word gun was in use in 
England for an engine, to cast a 
thing from a man, long before 
there was any gunpowder found 
out. 
Selden, Table-Talk, Language. 
2. A metallic tube or tu- 
bular barrel, with its stock 
or carriage and attach- 
ments, from which missiles 
are thrown, as by the ex- 
plosive force of gunpowder 
or other explosive placed 
behind them at the closed 
end of the tube, and ignited 
through a small hole or vent; 
in general, any firearm ex- 
cept the pistol and the mor- 
tar. Guns are distinguished as 
cannon*, muskets, rifles, carbines, 
fowling-pieces, etc. In military 
usage, however, only cannon in 
their various forms and sizes are 
called guns (collectively ordnance, and familiarly often 
great guns), the others being called small arms. In hu- 
2657 
morous use pistols also are often called guns. See cvm- 
nuii, 1. 
Throughout every regioun 
Wente this foule trumpes soun, 
As swift as a pellet out of gonne 
When pelet is in the poudre ronne. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1643. 
At our going off, the Fort against which our pinnace an- 
kered saluted my Lord Marshall with 12 greate gunx, which 
we answered with S. Ecelijn, Diary, Oct. 10, 1641. 
We saw three or four Arabs with long bright-barrelled 
guns slip out of a crevice just before us. 
R. Curzon, Monast. in the Levant, p. 171. 
So he come a-riding in with his gun [a revolver] and be- 
gan shooting. The Century, XXXVI. 884. 
3. Specifically, a comparatively long cannon 
used for obtaining high velocities with low tra- 
jectories, as distinguished from a howitzer or a 
mortar. 4. In hunting, one who carries a gun ; 
a member of a shooting-party. [Colloq.] 
There were six guns besides his own, and in the bag was 
one woodcock, which was shot by the prince. It was the 
first woodcock of the season; and, according to custom, 
Lord Brownlow and the other five guns each gave a half- 
crown to the prince. If. aitd Q., 7th ser., V. 106. 
5. A tall cylindrical jug in use in the north of 
England. 6. In plate-glass manuf., a device 
for fixing the breadth of the plate, it consists of 
two plates of cast metal, placed in front of the roller and 
bolted together by cross-bars at a distance apart which can 
be easily altered and adjusted according to the breadth of 
plate the apparatus is intended to control. Enctjc. Brit., 
X. 662. Accelerating gun. See accelerate. Arm- 
strong gun, an English gun of wrought-iron, invented 
by Sirw. G. Armstrong about 1855, ranging from the small- 
est field-piece to pieces of the largest caliber, constructed 
principally of spirally coiled bars, and generally having 
an inner tube or core of steel, rifled with numerous shallow 
grooves. The breech-loading projectile, which is coated 
with lead, is inserted into a chamber behind the bore, and 
is driven forward by the explosion with the effect of for- 
cing its soft coating into the grooves, so that it receives a 
rotary motion. The commonest form of the gun is breech- 
loading; but muzzle-loading Armstrong guns also are 
made. As sure as a gun, quite sure; certainly. [Colloq.] 
Corners with his dagger a promising assassin ; the guns 
and firelocks dead-doing things ; as sure, they say, as a 
gun. Roger North, Examen, p. 168. 
I laid down my basin of tea, 
And Betty ceased spreading the toast, 
"As sure as a gun, sir," said she, 
"That must be the knock of the post. 1 ' 
Macaulay, Country Clergyman's Trip to Cambridge. 
Axis of a gun. See axis*. Bailey gun, a battery-gun, 
not in use, in which the cartridges were placed in a hop- 
per, and, descending, were fed automatically to a group of 
barrels arranged parallel to each other. It was worked 
by taming a crank. Barbette gun. See barbette. Big 
gun. See great gun.'BoAy Of a gun. See body. 
Bomb-gun, a gun used for shooting a lance in killing 
whales. It may be a shoulder- or a swivel-gun, or resem- 
ble the darting-gun, which is thrust by hand ; but the term 
is more generally applied to the shoulder-gun, of which 
there are several patterns, both breech- and muzzle-load- 
ing. Bomb-lance gun, a bomb-gun. Centrifugal 
gun. See centrifugal. Dahlgren gun, a smooth-bore 
gun of cast-iron, invented by Lieutenant (afterward Rear- 
admiral) J. A. Dahlgren (1809-70) of the United States navy. 
h ; B, barrel ; C, 
Lf, breech-block ; 
t ; F, butt- or heel- 
ger-plate ; /, guard-bow ; 
gun 
Gatling, and first used in the civil war. This gun was the 
successful pioneer of the machine-guns. It has from 5 to 
10 barrels, with a lock for each barrel ; the barrels are ar- 
ranged in a cluster around a central axis, and both bar- 
rels and locks revolve together. The cartridges are fed 
from a feed-case into a hopper on top, and in the later 
models from a feed-magazine. With the 10-barrel gun a 
fire of about 1,000 shots per minute can be delivered. 
These guns are made of the following calibers : 0.42,0.43, 
0.45, 0.50,0.65, 0.65, 0.75,and 1 inch. They are mounted uoon 
a tripod or a carriage, according to the service for which 
they are intended. Great gun. () A cannon, (b) A per- 
son of distinction or importance : more commonly called a 
biggun. [Colloq.] Great guns! afamiliarejaculationof 
surprise. [Colloq.] Gun detachment. See detachment. 
Gun fence. See fence. Guns of position, heavy field- 
pieces which are not designed to execute quick move- 
ments. Horse-artillery gun, a light field-piece intend- 
ed for rapid movements and to accompany cavalry. 
Krupp gun, a steel cannon made at the Krupp works in 
Essen, Prussia. These guns are made from ingot steel 
and of all calibers. See fennetnre. Land-service gun, 
any piece of ordnance designed for use upon land. It 
includes mountain, field, siege, and sea-coast artillery. 
Lebel gun, a magazine-gun used in the French army. 
Lyle gun, a bronze life-saving gun, designed by Captain 
D. A. Lyle of the United States Ordnance Department, 
for throwing elongated projectiles having lines attached 
to them, in order to establish communication between 
Oahlgren Gun. 
Its principal peculiarities are the unbroken smoothness of 
its surface and the relation of its thickness at all points (de- 
termined by experiment) to the pressure in firing. Of all 
large smooth-bore guns, it is, not excepting the 15-inch 
Rodman gun, the most easily handled. The Dahlgren 
and Rodman 16-inch guns are equal as to accuracy and 
efficiency. Evening gun (milit. and naval), the warning 
gun at sunset. In the United States army the time of 
challenging is regulated by post-commanders, and it is 
generally later than the time of firing the evening gun. 
In the United States navy the evening gun is fired from 
flag-ships at 9 o'clock p. St. Fraser gun. Same as Wool- 
wich gun. Gardner gun. Same as Gardner machine- 
gun. See machine-gun. Gatling gun, an American form 
of mitrailleuse or machine-gun, invented by Dr. R. 3. 
O, pistol-grip; A" rear 
sight ; Q, receiver or sys- 
tem ; K, side-screws or 
-nails; S,S, stock; T, tip; 
U, trigger; /^, wiping-rod. 
Musket-caliber ten-barrel Gatling Gun. 
Lyle Life-saving (jun (2.5 inches). 
the shore and a stranded or wrecked vessel. The projec- 
tile has at the rear end a shank, to which the line is at- 
tached. Mauser gun, a magazine bolt-gun used in the 
German army. Morning gun, a gun fired on a ship of 
war or at a military post or camp as the first note of the 
reveille is sounded on the drum, bugle, or trumpet; a 
reveille gun. Mountain gun. See mountain-artillery, 
under artillery. Multicharge gun, a gun constructed 
to receive two or more separate charges of powder, which 
are fired consecutively in rapid succession : as, the Lyman- 
Haskell multicharge gun. The charge in the breech-cham- 
ber is ignited by a friction or other primer ; this charge 
starts the projectile forward, and as its base passes con- 
secutively the openings of the subsidiary chambers or 
pockets, the charges contained therein are ignited. Na- 
poleon gun, a bronze 12-pounder used for field-artillery, 
first adopted in France about 1866, under Napoleon III. 
Neck of a gun. See neck. Paixhans gun, a howitzer 
for the horizontal firing of heavy shells, introduced by 
the French general H. J. Paixhans about 1825. Palliser 
gun, a cast-iron gun lined with a tube of coiled wrought- 
iron, invented by Major Palliser of the British army about 
1870. The tube is made in two parts, the breech-end being 
shrunk on. This system was designed to utilize the old 
smooth-bore ordnance, by converting it into rifled guns. 
Parrott gun, a cast-iron rifled gun strengthened at the 
breech by shrinking coils of wrought-iron over it, invented 
by Captain Parrott of the Cold Spring foundry in New York, 
and first used in 1861. The calibers are 10-, 20-, 30-, 100-, 
200-, and 300-pounders. The Parrott projectile is of cast- 
iron, with a brass plate, or sabot, cast into a recessed rab- 
bet to prevent turning. The powder-gas presses against 
the bottom and under it so as to expand it into the grooves, 
and thus assures rotary motion to the projectile. Qua- 
ker gun, a log of wood mounted on wheels or some other 
arrangement, imitating a cannon, designed to deceive the 
enemy : so called in humorous allusion to the peace doc- 
trines of the Quakers or Friends. 
To conceal the absence of carriages, the embrasures 
were covered with sheds made of bushes. These were the 
Quaker guns afterwards noticed in Northern papers. 
J. . Johnston, The Century, XXXVI. 920. 
Rampart gun, a large piece of artillery fitted for use on 
a rampart, and not for field purposes. Rodman gun, 
a cast-iron gun with curved outline, being much thicker 
over the seat of the charge than elsewhere. The peculiar- 
ity of this gun is the method of casting, devised by Gen- 
eral Hodman of the United States Ordnance Department, 
and first employed in 1860. Instead of cooling from the 
exterior, as in the ordinary method, General Rodman cast 
all large guns with a hollow core, and cooled them from 
the interior by a stream of cold water or air, at the same 
time preventing undue radiation from the exterior by sur- 
rounding the flask holding the casting with heating-fur- 
naces. Son Of a gun, a rogue ; a knave : used humor- 
ously. 
We tucked him in, and had hardly done 
When, beneath the window calling, 
We heard the rough voice of a son of a gun 
Of a watchman, "One o'clock " bawling. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, 1. 116. 
Spencer gun, an American magazine-rifle containing 
seven cartridges in a metallic tube, which is inserted in 
the butt-stock from the rear. The magazine is operated 
by a lever in the under side of the arm. Springfield gun, 
a single-loader with a hinged block, used in the United 
States army. To blow great guns (naut.). to blow tem- 
pestuously, or with great violence : said of the wind. 
Spanking Jack was so comely, so pleasant, so jolly, 
Though winds blew great gun, still he'd whittle and sing. 
C. Dibdin, Sailor's Consolation. 
To break a gun, to house guns, etc. See the verbs. 
Vavasseur gun [named from the inventor of the system ), 
a built-up steel gun with wrought-iron trunnion-band, and 
having three ribs projecting into the bore to replace the 
grooves usually employed in rifling. Vetterll gun [from 
the inventor, F. Vctterli}. (a) A single-loading small-arm, 
