cannon

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“
The cannon was a lucky cannon, a kind cannon, and a good cannon--a bon enfant, and worthy to be blessed; it had refused to pour forth its murderous fire against the inhabitants of a town that was so friendly to the King.

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Definitions (35)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. noun A large mounted weapon that fires heavy projectiles. Cannon include guns, howitzers, and mortars.
  2. noun The loop at the top of a bell by which it is hung.
  3. noun A round bit for a horse.
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Examples (50)

  • CTAI Managing Director Gilles Sarreau said the company has had good feedback about the cannon from the French Ministry of Defense's procurement arm, the DGA. —  News From DefenseNews.com
  • EC: It all depends on what the cannon is actually firing. —  Frederator Blogs Master Site Feed
  • I also may be saying this because the cannon is also the most expensive rivalry trophy in the NCAA and, in the wake of budget cuts, if it gets broken it may stay broken. —  The Rebel Yell
  • Sargeant Jones had control of all the guns at the fort, and unknown to us, the cannon were all trained on the dancers. —  Old Rail Fence Corners The A. B. C's. of Minnesota History
  • 1814. A winged Victory, standing on a British shield, holds a palm branch in her left hand, and places with her right a crown of laurel upon the cascabel of a cannon standing upright in the ground, and forming the centre of a trophy of the enemy's arms: on the cannon is the inscription ERIE. —  The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English canon, from Old French, from Old Italian cannone, augmentative of canna, tube, from Latin, reed; see cane.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also canon; = Dutch kanon = German canone, now kanone, = Danish Swedish kanon, a cannon (gun), from French canon, a gun (cannon), barrel of a gun, any tube or pipe (canon parfumatoire, a surgical tube), a graft, a cannon-bit, a roll or cuff (canon de chausses, or simply canons, plural, English canons, cannons, canions, cannions) (Cotgrave), cannon-bone, Old French canon, a tube, pipe, conduit, bobbin, = Spanish cañon, a gun (cannon), tube, pipe, funnel, quill, lamp-chimney, cannon-bit, spindle, roller-fold in cloth (later English cañon, canyon, q. v.), = Portuguese canhão, a gun (cannon), cannon-bit, plural rolls (cannons), = Italian cannone, a gun (cannon), barrel of a gun, pipe, conduit, cannon-bit (Florio), tube, bobbin (later NGr.κανόνι, a cannon), from Middle Latin canon, a tube, pipe, gun (cannon) (canonus, a bobbin), properly augmentative of Latin canna, Middle Latin canna, cana, a reed, pipe, tube, but mixed with the nearly related canon, a rule, in its literally sense of ‘a straight rod,’ from Greek κανών, a straight rod, a rule, from κάνη, a rare form of κάννη, κάννα, Latin canna, a reed: see cane and canon. In the minor senses 2,3,4, etc., also spelled canon, but properly cannon. In the sense of ‘cannon-bone,’ cf. Italian cannoli (Florio), cannon-bones, cannella, arm-bone (cf. cannel).
  2. from French canonner = Spanish cañonear = Portuguese canhonear = Italian cannonare; from the noun.
 

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/ˈkænən/
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