Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A cylindrical, usually metal casing containing the primer and charge of ammunition for firearms.
- n. Such a casing fitted with a bullet.
- n. A similar piece of ammunition, such as a shotgun shell.
- n. A case filled with high explosives, used in blasting.
- n. A small modular unit designed to be inserted into a larger piece of equipment: an ink cartridge; a disposable cartridge of caulking compound.
- n. A removable case containing the stylus and electric conversion circuitry in a phonograph pickup.
- n. A case containing magnetic tape in a reel; a cassette.
- n. A case containing a ribbon in a spool, for use in printers and electric typewriters.
- n. A lightproof case with photographic film that can be loaded directly into a camera.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A case of pasteboard, parchment, copper, tin, serge, or other material, holding the exact charge of gunpowder, in the case of big guns, and of powder and bullet or shot for other firearms.
- n. A case of metal, paper, or other material containing some chemical preparation used in photography, such as magnesium mixture for flash-light or material for developing, toning, or fixing solutions.
Wiktionary
- n. firearms The package consisting of the bullet, primer, and casing containing gunpowder; a round of ammunition (Wikipedia).
- n. by extension A prefabricated subassembly that can be easily installed in or removed from a larger mechanism or replaced with another interchangeable subassembly.
- n. computing A vessel which contains the ink (Wikipedia) or toner (Wikipedia) for a computer printer and can be easily replaced with another.
- n. computing Magnetic tape storage, used for storing (backup) copies of data (Wikipedia).
- n. obsolete A small paper package, e.g. in an old book about making printer's type: After all the type has been cast: "The Boy will paper up each sort in a cartridge by itself".
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Mil.) A complete charge for a firearm, contained in, or held together by, a case, capsule, or shell of metal, pasteboard, or other material.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a light-tight supply chamber holding the film and supplying it for exposure as required
- n. a module designed to be inserted into a larger piece of equipment
- n. an electro-acoustic transducer that is the part of the arm of a record player that holds the needle and that is removable
- n. ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun
Etymologies
- Alteration of earlier cartage, alteration of French cartouche, from Italian cartuccio, variant of cartoccio, roll of paper; see cartouche. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Shoot what you want, don't argue that a certain cartridge is the top cal. unles you survey more people than B&C records Say ....”
“It was so intriguing I started to look for more references as I always get questions from people in the USA whenever I use the term cartridge paper.”
“This cartridge is a 29 gr. bullet with a velocity of 1100 fps.”
do you think an airgun that shoots about 600 fps is enough for squirrels?
“So why should one handicap themselves when the ideal cartridge is the 30-06!”
“A toner cartridge is color (or the soot-black lack thereof, and by extension, Manichean dualism), disposability, the Gillette model of razor marketing, the democratization of print publishing.”
“He worked his rifle, ejecting a loaded cartridge from the chamber, by the same action replacing it with another, and returning the ejected cartridge into the magazine.”
“As for .308, the cartridge is too long for an AR-15 sized lower receiver.”
“In one photo I have you can see the fired cartridge is jammed up against the next cartridge.”
“The only lever guns that I am aware of chambered for a. 30-06 size cartridge is the BLR and Winchester 1895 and Browning 1895.”
“If not then researching the available bullet types will give you a better understanding of what each bullet and cartridge is capable of.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cartridge’.
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SEDE - technology+material+support
nuclear fuel, nuclear arsenal, nuclear equipment, AWACS, anti-missile shield, battlefield opera..., communication sys..., community communi..., control system, functionality log..., Missile Technolog..., NBC Warning and R... and 302 more...
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TECH - department store terms
absorbable, access road, account book, acoustic, adding machine, adhesive, advisory service, aeration, air compressor, air conditioner, air filter, alarm system and 231 more...
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SEDE - weapons
bazooka, ammunition, anti-aircraft mac..., anti-vehicle mine, automatic machine..., ballistic missile..., biological weapons, booby trap, bunker-busting bomb, chemical weapons, cluster bomb, light battleship and 218 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Amalgamations
Words that have been smashed together.
keystone, touchstone, footprint, thunderhead, seesaw, textbook, leftovers, watchword, afterbirth, fieldwork, outcast, statesman and 148 more...
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Insurance Data-Related words
claimant, delete, register, invoice, spreadsheet, alert, electronic, cartridge, password, dashboard, certificate, presentation and 90 more...
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heart of darkness
yawl, sea-reach, offing, barge, sprit, estuary, yarn, aft, mizzenmast, placid, gauzy, diaphanous and 141 more...
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Compounds That Look Freakish
You know who you are, freakish compounds. Though very useful, some of these words just don't seem right together--or, their meanings are so far from what the two (or more) component words suggest t...
nightjar, bullfinch, grassquit, bananaquit, ovenbird, waxwing, stonechat, wheatear, bushtit, wrentit, starthroat, godwit and 158 more...
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Flanges &c
Amusingly-named mechanical and electrical parts to be found in a particular warehouse in Newfoundland
nut, relief valve, cotter, shaft, bushing (inner bo..., sleeve, bushing (link), thrust washer, slip yoke, bushing (swing post), half pump coupling, main teledyne spool and 344 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
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Historical Military Terms of Interest
Many (if not all) of these terms were selected from A pocket dictionary, for military officers, containing a definition of all the tactical terms now in use, with other matter belonging to the art ...
zig-zags, yeoman, xerxes, xeiff, xenophon, worm, watch-word, windage, wheeling, wad-hock, wadding, volley and 242 more...
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limeade's list
rust, vetiver, marigold, chrysanthemum, alizarin, jasper, chalcedony, tourmaline, pendeloque, ember, molasses, crypt and 24 more...
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List A
sorority, tantalize, untimely, deem, to wit, pliable, deteriorate, fortnight, Immaculate, susurration, bushed, stray and 56 more...
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Pleats
There's more than one way to pleat a cat.
plait, plicature, plication, crinkle, crease, rimple, crimp, ruche, ruck, goffer, fanfold, Wateau and 18 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cartridge.

chained_bear The case in which the exact charge of powder for fire-arms is made up; of paper, parchment, pasteboard, flannel, serge, metal, etc., according to its use. Generally, for small-arms, the cartridge contains the bullet as well as the powder (called distinctively a ball-cartridge); if it contains no ball, it is a blank cartridge. (OED) Oct 17, 2007