derringer

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of derringer One hundred and fifty-nine years ago, a 26-year-old white supremacist and Confederate sympathizer named John Wilkes Booth pointed a .44 caliber derringer pistol at the back of Abraham Lincoln’s head and squeezed the trigger. Brian Matthew Jordan, National Review, 14 Apr. 2024 In 1976, after wrecking his Rolls-Royce in a drunk-driving accident, he was arrested, intoxicated, with a loaded derringer on the grounds of Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate. Chris Morris, Variety, 28 Oct. 2022 Police found a silver derringer-style gun in his backpack at the time of his arrest. oregonlive, 21 June 2022 There's also a replica of the derringer pistol John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Lincoln. Ariana Garcia, Chron, 13 May 2022 Wagrowski also testified that police found two guns -- a .22-caliber Kel-tec and a small derringer -- at the Crumbley home, aside from the one allegedly used in the shooting. Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 8 Feb. 2022 Police arrested a Sandusky man, 29, who was carrying a Ruger .45 caliber pistol with three magazines containing 22 rounds, along with a loaded High Standard derringer. Thomas Jewell, cleveland, 23 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for derringer
Noun
  • Federal partners including the FBI and NCIS will assist with digital forensics and evidence collection; prosecutors will decide whether any third parties, including caregivers, could face charges related to firearm access as the ownership and access to the revolver remain under investigation.
    James Bickerton, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The sheriff's office said the suspect was armed with a revolver handgun.
    Alex Stone, ABC News, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Those who remained in the South during the brutal fight for Civil Rights saw leaders and laypeople assassinated by white supremacists with long-range rifles, beaten by the butts of shotguns during marches, or shot with pistols at close range.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Davis looked at the barrel of the pistol and saw smoke curling upward, as if in slow motion.
    Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • And at Evergreen High School in Colorado, two students were wounded by a classmate wielding a handgun, who then fatally shot himself.
    John Feinblatt, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Hundreds of police responded to the shooting, which included a student allegedly wielding a handgun, Kelley said in a news briefing.
    Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Its big selling feature is a revolver-like cylinder that spins and snicks along on precision bearings, just like the cylinder of a six-shooter.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 11 June 2025
  • Richard’s odds are lousier than Reacher’s were when Beck forced Reacher to play because this revolver is a five-shot model instead of a six-shooter.
    Chris Klimek, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • There were four Elvises—two in fading black and white, two in lurid colour—all aiming a six-gun straight at her.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 30 Aug. 2023
Noun
  • Herbert ran to his right on the Kansas City 23-yard line and slung a sidearm pass to Johnston for his second touchdown of the game.
    Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Ziva, though, heard gunshot, immediately grabbed for her sidearm and started frantically aiming for an assailant who wasn’t there.
    Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Speaking on Fox & Friends, Patel said forensic teams identified Robinson's DNA on both a screwdriver and a towel wrapped around the firearm believed to have been used in the fatal shooting.
    Amanda Castro Hannah Parry Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • One reason is that the availability of increasingly lethal firearms continues to grow dramatically.
    John J. Donohue, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Trumps otherwise basked in the royal limelight on Wednesday, visibly enjoying the pomp and ceremony, which included a royal gun salute, carriage procession through Windsor and guard of honor.
    Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Anonymous tips forward to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center reported threatening posts from a Discord profile that referenced plans for a future massacre and contained pictures of guns.
    Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 18 Sep. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Derringer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/derringer. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on derringer

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!