Gatling gun

noun

Gat·​ling gun ˈgat-liŋ- How to pronounce Gatling gun (audio)
: a machine gun with a revolving cluster of barrels fired once each per revolution

Examples of Gatling gun in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The oak trees around us are spewing acorns like bullets from a Gatling gun. — John Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023 Raymond, a hard warman to the end, kept the Times building safe by mounting two Gatling guns in a second-floor window. — Matthew Karp, Harpers Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025 In addition to air-to-surface weapons, the A-10 has a Gatling gun that can fire 3,900 rounds a minute, which can destroy tanks. — Tom Liddy, ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026 The weapon combines a 20-millimeter Gatling gun that fires at a rate of either 3,000 or 4,500 shots per minute, with radar to search for and track targets. — Larry Greenemeier, Scientific American, 19 July 2010 Since the Saya de Malha Bank has been known to entice pirates and other sea marauders, Landi also planned to mount a Gatling gun on the Aisland. — Ian Urbina, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2025 The vehicle in Get Smart had a retractable Gatling gun under its hood and a few other essential spy accessories, but was otherwise a civilian-issue Tiger MK I roadster. — Robert Ross, Robb Report, 22 Aug. 2025 The automated Phalanx system features Gatling guns that can fire up to 4,500 20-millimeter rounds a minute, engaging projectiles or other targets at extremely close range. — Brad Lendon, CNN, 2 Feb. 2024 The same gun models were used by private security forces, federal and state troops, and police departments to put down labor strikes; in 1892, the Pennsylvania National Guard used Gatling guns to end a strike at the Carnegie Steel Company. — Audrey Kurth Cronin, Foreign Affairs, 22 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Richard J. Gatling †1903 American inventor

First Known Use

1867, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Gatling gun was in 1867

Rhymes for Gatling gun

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Browse Nearby Words

Gatlinburg
Gatling gun
gato
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Cite this Entry

“Gatling gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gatling%20gun. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on Gatling gun

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about Gatling gun

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