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4 results for: blunderbuss

4 results for: blunderbuss
blun·der·buss      [bluhn-der-buhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.a short musket of wide bore with expanded muzzle to scatter shot, bullets, or slugs at close range.
2.an insensitive, blundering person.
[Origin: 1645–55; < D donderbus (equiv. to donder thunder + bus gun, box1) with donder replaced by blunder. See harquebus]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
blun·der·buss       (blŭn'dər-bŭs')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter shot at close range.
  2. A person regarded as clumsy and stupid.


[Alteration of Dutch donderbus : donder, thunder (from Middle Dutch doner; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots) + bus, gun (from Middle Dutch busse, tube, from Latin buxis, box; see box1).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
blunderbuss 
1654, from Du. donderbus, from donder "thunder" + bus "gun" (originally "box, tube"), altered by resemblance to blunder.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
blunderbuss

noun
a short musket of wide bore with a flared muzzle 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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