ma·chine-gun
mə-ˈshēn-ˌgən 
: characterized by rapidity and sharpness : rapid-fire
a comic's machine-gun delivery
machine-gunned; machine-gunning; machine-guns
: to shoot at, wound, or kill (someone or something) with a machine gun
… machine-gunned a marauding gang of terrorists outside the U.S. embassy …—
Terry Eagleton
Terry EagletonA few years later someone machine-gunned to death the prosecutor who wanted to try the group for killing the soldiers.—Paul Berman
Paul Berman
machine gunner
noun
or less commonly machine-gunner
plural machine gunners also machine-gunners
These battalions were composed of the hardened infantrymen—riflemen, machine gunners, grenadiers, and mortarmen—who carried the main burden of the war.
—Shelby L. Stanton
Shelby L. Stanton
plural machine guns
: a gun for sustained rapid fire that uses bullets
broadly
: an automatic weapon
Examples of machine-gun in a Sentence
Noun
They heard the sound of machine-gun fire.
Recent Examples on the Web
Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Police said three of the guns had been reported stolen, and one handgun was equipped with a machine-gun conversion device.
—Sergio Candido, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
Sergio Candido, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
Their recording was a kinetic thrashathon with machine-gun-fast guitar notes and solos and Hetfield’s convincing screams for mercy.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 29 Jan. 2026
According to the Department of Justice, the devices convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones and are classified as a machine gun under federal law.
—Tim Fang, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for machine-gun
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Adjective
The film cuts to a desolate South London street, the sound of machine-gun fire in the distance.
—Hari Kunzru, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Police said three of the guns had been reported stolen, and one handgun was equipped with a machine-gun conversion device.
—Sergio Candido, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
Verb
Police said three of the guns had been reported stolen, and one handgun was equipped with a machine-gun conversion device.
—Sergio Candido, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
Their recording was a kinetic thrashathon with machine-gun-fast guitar notes and solos and Hetfield’s convincing screams for mercy.
—Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
Noun
Now, a video making the rounds on social media appears to show three Russian soldiers emerging from a building with their arms raised and surrendering to a robot armed with a machine gun.
—Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 29 Jan. 2026
According to the Department of Justice, the devices convert semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic ones and are classified as a machine gun under federal law.
—Tim Fang, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for machine-gun
Cite this Entry
“Machine-gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machine-gun. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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