A great gun; a piece of ordnance or artillery; a firearm for discharging heavy shot with great force. [1913 Webster]
" Cannons are made of various materials, as iron, brass, bronze, and steel, and of various sizes and shapes with respect to the special service for which they are intended, as intended, as siege, seacoast, naval, field, or mountain, guns. They always aproach more or less nearly to a cylindrical from, being usually thicker toward the breech than at the muzzle. Formerly they were cast hollow, afterwards they were cast, solid, and bored out. The cannon now most in use for the armament of war vessels and for seacoast defense consists of a forged steel tube reinforced with massive steel rings shrunk upon it. Howitzers and mortars are sometimes called cannon. See Gun." [1913 Webster]
A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently. [1913 Webster]
A kind of type. See Canon. [1913 Webster]

Cannon ball, strictly, a round solid missile of stone or iron made to be fired from a cannon, but now often applied to a missile of any shape, whether solid or hollow, made for cannon. Elongated and cylindrical missiles are sometimes called bolts; hollow ones charged with explosives are properly called shells. -- Cannon bullet, a cannon ball. [Obs.] -- Cannon cracker, a fire cracker of large size. -- Cannon lock, a device for firing a cannon by a percussion primer. -- Cannon metal. See Gun Metal. -- Cannon pinion, the pinion on the minute hand arbor of a watch or clock, which drives the hand but permits it to be moved in setting. -- Cannon proof, impenetrable by cannon balls. -- Cannon shot. (a) A cannon ball. (b) The range of a cannon.

cannon, v. i.

To discharge cannon. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
To collide or strike violently, esp. so as to glance off or rebound; to strike and rebound.
"He heard the right-hand goal post crack as a pony cannoned into it -- crack, splinter, and fall like a mast." [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

cannon, n. & v.

See Carom. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

cannon, n. & v.
--n.
1 hist. (pl. same) a large heavy gun installed on a carriage or mounting.
2 an automatic aircraft gun firing shells.
3 Billiards the hitting of two balls successively by the cue-ball.
4 Mech. a hollow cylinder moving independently on a shaft.
5 (in full cannon-bit) a smooth round bit for a horse.
--v.intr.
1 (usu. foll. by against, into) collide heavily or obliquely.
2 Billiards make a cannon shot.

Idiom

cannon-ball hist. a large usu. metal ball fired by a cannon. cannon-bone the tube-shaped bone between the hock and fetlock of a horse. cannon-fodder soldiers regarded merely as material to be expended in war.

Etymology

F canon f. It. cannone large tube f. canna CANE: in Billiards sense f. older CAROM

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DEVIL DICTIONARY

cannon

n. An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries.

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THESAURUS

cannon

aim at, appulse, artillery, backfire, backlash, bang, bang into, barrage, battery, blast, blitz, bombard, boomerang, bounce, bounce back, bound, bound back, bowshot, brunt, bulldozing, bullet, bulling, bump, bump into, cannon off, cannonade, cannonry, carambole, carom, carom into, clash, coast artillery, collide, collision, come into collision, commence firing, concuss, concussion, confront each other, crack up, crack-up, crash, crash into, crump, crunch, cutpurse, dash into, detonation, dip, discharge, diver, ejection, encounter, enfilade, fall foul of, field artillery, fire a volley, fire at, fire upon, flak, fly back, foul, fusillade, gun, gunfire, gunshot, hammering, have repercussions, heavy field artillery, hit, hit against, hurt, hurtle, impact, impinge, impingement, kick, kick back, knock, knock against, lash back, mauling, meet, meeting, mortar, onslaught, open fire, open up on, ordnance, pepper, percuss, percussion, pop at, potshot, rake, ramming, rebound, recalcitrate, recoil, repercuss, resile, ricochet, run into, salvo, shell, shock, shoot, shoot at, shot, sideswipe, siege artillery, siege engine, slam into, sledgehammering, smack into, smash, smash into, smash up, smash-up, smashing, snap back, snipe, snipe at, spray, spring, spring back, stoneshot, strafe, strike, strike against, take aim at, tattoo, thrusting, torpedo, trench artillery, volley, whomp, wire, zero in on

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ROGET THESAURUS

cannon

Arms

N arm, arms, weapon, deadly weapon, armament, armaments, armature, panoply, stand of arms, armor, armory, apparatus belli, ammunition, powder, powder and shot, cartridge, ball cartridge, cartouche, fireball, villainous saltpeter, dumdum bullet, explosive, gunpowder, guncotton, mercury fulminate, picrates, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, PETN, high explosive, trinitrotoluene, TNT, dynamite, melinite, cordite, lyddite, plastic explosive, plastique, pyroxyline, sword, saber, broadsword, cutlass, falchion, scimitar, cimeter, brand, whinyard, bilbo, glaive, glave, rapier, skean, Toledo, Ferrara, tuck, claymore, adaga, baselard, Lochaber ax, skean dhu, creese, kris, dagger, dirk, banger, poniard, stiletto, stylet, dudgeon, bayonet, sword-bayonet, sword-stick, side arms, foil, blade, steel, ax, bill, pole-ax, battle-ax, gisarme, halberd, partisan, tomahawk, bowie knife, ataghan, attaghan, yataghan, yatacban, assagai, assegai, good sword, trusty sword, naked sword, cold steel, club, mace, truncheon, staff, bludgeon, cudgel, life preserver, shillelah, sprig, hand staff, quarter staff, bat, cane, stick, knuckle duster, billy, blackjack, sandbag, waddy, gun, piece, firearms, artillery, ordnance, siege train, battering train, park, battery, cannon, gun of position, heavy gun, field piece, mortar, howitzer, carronade, culverin, basilisk, falconet, jingal, swivel, pederero, bouche a feu, petard, torpedo, mitrailleur, mitrailleuse, infernal machine, smooth bore, rifled cannon, Armstrong gun, Lancaster gun, Paixhan gun, Whitworth gun, Parrott gun, Krupp gun, Gatling gun, Maxim gun, machine gun, pompom, ten pounder, small arms, musket, musketry, firelock, fowling piece, rifle, fusil, caliver, carbine, blunderbuss, musketoon, Brown Bess, matchlock, harquebuss, arquebus, haguebut, pistol, postolet, petronel, small bore, breach-loader, muzzle-loader, revolver, repeater, Minis rifle, Enfield rifle, Flobert rifle, Westley Richards rifle, Snider rifle, Martini-Henry rifle, Lee-Metford rifle, Lee-Enfield rifle, Mauser rifle, magazine rifle, needle gun, chassepot, wind gun, air gun, automatic gun, automatic pistol, escopet, escopette, gunflint, gun- lock, hackbut, shooter, shooting iron, six-shooter, shotgun, Uzzi, assault rifle, Kalashnikov, bow, crossbow, balister, catapult, sling, battering ram, gunnery, ballistics, missile, bolt, projectile, shot, ball, grape, grape shot, canister shot, bar shot, cannon shot, langrel shot, langrage shot, round shot, chain shot, balista, ballista, slung shot, trebucbet, trebucket, bullet, slug, stone, brickbat, grenade, shell, bomb, carcass, rocket, congreve, congreve rocket, shrapnel, mitraille, levin bolt, levin brand, thunderbolt, pike, lance, spear, spontoon, javelin, dart, jereed, jerid, arrow, reed, shaft, bolt, boomerang, harpoon, gaff, eelspear, oxgoad, weet-weet, wommerah, cattle prod, chemical mace, en flute, nervos belli pecuniam infinitam.

Impulse

N impulse, sudden thought, impromptu, improvisation, inspiration, flash, spurt, improvisatore, creature of impulse, extemporaneous, impulsive, indeliberate, snap, improvised, improvisate, improvisatory, unpremeditated, unmeditated, improvise, unprompted, unguided, natural, unguarded, spontaneous, instinctive, extempore, extemporaneously, offhand, impromptu, a limproviste, improviso, on the spur of the moment, on the spur of the occasion, impulse, impulsion, impetus, momentum, push, pulsion, thrust, shove, jog, jolt, brunt, booming, boost, throw, explosion, propulsion, percussion, concussion, collision, occursion, clash, encounter, cannon, carambole, appulse, shock, crash, bump, impact, elan, charge, beating, blow, dint, stroke, knock, tap, rap, slap, smack, pat, dab, fillip, slam, bang, hit, whack, thwack, cuff, squash, dowse, swap, whap, punch, thump, pelt, kick, punce, calcitration, ruade, arietation, cut, thrust, lunge, yerk, carom, carrom, clip, jab, plug, sidewinder, sidewipe, sideswipe, hammer, sledge hammer, mall, maul, mallet, flail, ram, rammer, battering ram, monkey, pile-driving engine, punch, bat, cant hook, cudgel, ax, dynamics, seismometer, accelerometer, earthquake detector, impelling, impulsive, impellent, booming, dynamic, dynamical, impelled, a hit, a very palpable hit.

Loudness

N loudness, power, loud noise, din, blare, clang, clangor, clatter, noise, bombilation, roar, uproar, racket, hubbub, bobbery, fracas, charivari, trumpet blast, flourish of trumpets, fanfare, tintamarre, peal, swell, blast, larum, boom, bang (explosion), resonance, vociferation, hullabaloo, lungs, Stentor, artillery, cannon, thunder, loud, sonorous, high-sounding, big-sounding, deep, full, powerful, noisy, blatant, clangorous, multisonous, thundering, deafening, trumpet-tongued, ear-splitting, ear-rending, ear-deafening, piercing, obstreperous, rackety, uproarious, enough to wake the dead, enough to wake seven sleepers, shrill &c 410 clamorous stentorian, stentorophonic, loudly, aloud, at the top of one's voice, at the top of one's lungs, lustily, in full cry, the air rings with, the deep dread-bolted thunder.

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