Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A gun or other firearm loaded at the breech.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A firearm loaded at the breech.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A firearm which receives its load at the breech.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a variety of firearm in which the weapon is loaded from the breech, i.e. the end opposite that which discharges the projectile

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a gun that is loaded at the breech

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

from breech + load + -er

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Examples

  • He looked up into the implacable face of the Marquess of Stoneville and then lower to the barrel of a Manton breechloader aimed right at his head.

    How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011

  • He looked up into the implacable face of the Marquess of Stoneville and then lower to the barrel of a Manton breechloader aimed right at his head.

    How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011

  • “The weapon is a most formidable one, it is admirably constructed, and equipped for service, and will, I doubt not, produce, if brought into action, effects almost as astonishing as those of the breechloader, and cause a general impatience to be possessed of the new arm.”

    The Gun C. J. Chivers 2010

  • The pistol, a .22-caliber 1857 model breechloader, had a four-inch barrel and was not accurate beyond a range of fifteen yards.

    LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010

  • The pistol, a .22-caliber 1857 model breechloader, had a four-inch barrel and was not accurate beyond a range of fifteen yards.

    LIGHTING OUT FOR THE TERRITORY JR. ROY MORRIS 2010

  • This is the British officer/gun designer who had a breechloader as early as the time of the American Revolution.

    Transmitting History 2008

  • The paper roll of caps in those toys were the descendants of those used during the U.S. Civil War on some Sharps breechloader carbines used by the Union Army.

    Mpls Update: the Covered Wagon – The Bleat. 2009

  • Yet its only luxury was the bottom of a breechloader brass cartridge, inlaid and flanked by the sharp incisors of the little Wabar, or mountain coney.

    The Land of Midian 2003

  • Yet this ignoble war between barbarous tribes whom it has long been the fashion to pet, this poor scuffle between the breechloader and the Birmingham trade musket, may yet in one sense do good.

    Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo 2003

  • “My dad would know better than me, but that looks like a breechloader, maybe,” Sean said.

    The Good House Tananarive Due 2003

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