Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A short piece of ordnance having a large caliber and a chamber for the powder, like a mortar.

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

  • noun (Med.) A kind of short cannon, formerly in use, designed to throw a large projectile with small velocity, used for the purpose of breaking or smashing in, rather than piercing, the object aimed at, as the side of a ship. It has no trunnions, but is supported on its carriage by a bolt passing through a loop on its under side.

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

  • noun nautical a very short carriage gun used to fire a heavy shot for a limited range

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A shell from a short cannon known as a carronade landed close behind Joyful.

    City of Glory Beverly Swerling 2007

  • A shell from a short cannon known as a carronade landed close behind Joyful.

    City of Glory Beverly Swerling 2007

  • The carronade was a pot of a gun, not a long, elegant and accurate cannon, but a squat cauldron to be charged with powder and metal scraps that flayed out like buckshot.

    Sharpe's Devil Cornwell, Bernard 1992

  • The carronade was a pot of a gun, not a long, elegant and accurate cannon, but a squat cauldron to be charged with powder and metal scraps that flayed out like buckshot.

    Sharpe's Devil Cornwell, Bernard 1992

  • A carronade is a short cannon of large calibre, but of very short range.

    The Naval History of the United States Volume 1 (of 2) Willis J. Abbot 1898

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    Srs Book Lnx - I mean, for real — check these out for lo, they contain much awesomeness 2009

  • He slews all out of gear, like a carronade with rotten lashings.

    Mary Anerley Richard Doddridge 2004

  • Montmorin knew what was coming, but just then the forward carronade sent a shattering cask of musket balls into the Revenant's belly and belched a pall of smoke above the ship.

    Sharpe's Trafalgar Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 2000

  • A ball clanged off Clouter's empty carronade and struck a man in the thigh.

    Sharpe's Trafalgar Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 2000

  • The Frenchmen had been snatching boarding pikes from their racks about the mainmast, while others held axes or cutlasses, but one carronade forward and one aft provided a tangling crossfire that destroyed the boarding party.

    Sharpe's Trafalgar Cornwell, Bernard, 1944- 2000

Comments

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  • "... a short kind of ordnance which carries a ball from 12 to 68 pound. It is shorter and lighter than guns of a corresponding callibre (sic) and has a chamber for the powder, like a mortar. They were first made at Carron in Scotland, from which they take their name." (citation in Historical Military Terms list description)

    October 10, 2008