Weapons
- .22
- a .22 caliber firearm (pistol or rifle)
- A-bomb
- a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)
- ABM
- a defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles
- ack-ack
- artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes
- aflatoxin
- a potent carcinogen from the fungus Aspergillus; can be produced and stored for use as a bioweapon
- air gun
- a gun that propels a projectile by compressed air
- air-to-air missile
- a missile designed to be launched from one airplane at another
- air-to-ground missile
- a missile designed to be launched from an airplane at a target on the ground
- arquebus
- an obsolete firearm with a long barrel
- arrow
- a projectile with a straight thin shaft and an arrowhead on one end and stabilizing vanes on the other; intended to be shot from a bow
- assagai
- the slender spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africa
- assault gun
- any of the automatic rifles or semiautomatic rifles with large magazines designed for military use
- atomic weapon
- a weapon of mass destruction whose explosive power derives from a nuclear reaction
- autoloader
- a firearm that reloads itself
- automatic firearm
- a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released
- automatic
- a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released
- automatic
- light machine gun
- Bacillus anthracis
- a species of bacillus that causes anthrax in humans and in animals (cattle and swine and sheep and rabbits and mice and guinea pigs); can be used a bioweapon
- backsword
- a sword with only one cutting edge
- ball
- a solid projectile that is shot by a musket
- ballistic missile
- a missile that is guided in the first part of its flight but falls freely as it approaches target
- banderilla
- a decorated dart that is implanted in the neck or shoulders of the bull during a bull fight
- bayonet
- a knife that can be fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
- BB gun
- an air gun in which BBs are propelled by compressed air
- BB shot
- a small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun
- bioarm
- any weapon usable in biological warfare
- bird shot
- small lead shot for shotgun shells
- blade
- a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
- blistering agent
- a toxic war gas with sulfide based compounds that raises blisters and attacks the eyes and lungs; there is no known antidote
- blunderbuss
- a short musket of wide bore with a flared muzzle
- bodkin
- a dagger with a slender blade
- Bofors gun
- an automatic double-barreled antiaircraft gun
- boomerang
- a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower
- botulin
- potent bacterial toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that causes botulism; can be used as a bioweapon
- bow
- a weapon for shooting arrows, composed of a curved piece of resilient wood with a taut cord to propel the arrow
- bow and arrow
- a weapon consisting of arrows and the bow to shoot them
- brass knuckles
- (used in the plural) a small metal weapon; worn over the knuckles on the back of the hand
- breechloader
- a gun that is loaded at the breech
- Bren gun
- a submachine gun operated by gas pressure; used by the British in World War II
- brilliant pebble
- a code name for a small computerized heat-seeking missile that was supposed to intercept and destroy enemy missiles
- broad arrow
- an arrow with a wide barbed head
- broadsword
- a sword with a broad blade and (usually) two cutting edges; used to cut rather than stab
- Browning automatic rifle
- a portable .30 caliber automatic rifle operated by gas pressure and fed by cartridges from a magazine; used by United States troops in World War I and in World War II and in the Korean War
- Browning machine gun
- a belt-fed machine gun capable of firing more than 500 rounds per minute; used by United States troops in World War II and the Korean War
- bullet
- a projectile that is fired from a gun
- burp gun
- a fully automatic pistol; a small submachine gun
- bursting explosive
- a high explosive that is used to damage the target that is under attack
- butt shaft
- a blunt arrow without a barb; an arrow used for target practice
- cannon
- heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane
- cannon
- heavy gun fired from a tank
- cannon ball
- a solid projectile that in former times was fired from a cannon
- carbine
- light automatic rifle
- cavalry sword
- a stout sword with a curved blade and thick back
- chemical bomb
- a bomb laden with chemical agents that are released when the bomb explodes
- Chemical Mace
- (trademark) a liquid that temporarily disables a person; prepared as an aerosol and sprayed in the face, it irritates the eyes and causes dizziness and immobilization
- chemical weapon
- chemical substances that can be delivered using munitions and dispersal devices to cause death or severe harm to people and animals and plants
- claymore
- a large double-edged broadsword; formerly used by Scottish Highlanders
- clean bomb
- an atom bomb leaving little or no radioactive contamination
- clostridium perfringens
- anaerobic Gram-positive rod bacterium that produces epsilon toxin; can be used as a bioweapon
- CN gas
- a tear gas that is weaker than CS gas but lasts longer
- Colt
- a kind of revolver
- crease
- a Malayan dagger with a wavy blade
- crossbow
- a bow fixed transversely on a wooden stock grooved to direct the arrow (quarrel)
- CS gas
- a tear gas that is stronger than CN gas but wears off faster; can be deployed by grenades or cluster bombs; can cause skin burns and fatal pulmonary edema
- culverin
- a medieval musket
- Cupid's bow
- a curved bow with reversed curve ends
- cutlas
- a short heavy curved sword with one edge; formerly used by sailors
- dagger
- a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing
- dart
- a small narrow pointed missile that is thrown or shot
- derringer
- a pocket pistol of large caliber with a short barrel
- dirk
- a relatively long dagger with a straight blade
- dirty bomb
- an atom bomb that leaves considerable radioactive contamination
- Dragunov
- a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight
- dumdum
- a soft-nosed small-arms bullet that expands when it hits a target and causes a gaping wound
- epee
- a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade
- Excalibur
- the legendary sword of King Arthur
- Exocet
- a guided missile developed by the French government for use against ships
- falchion
- a short broad slightly convex medieval sword with a sharp point
- fencing sword
- a sword used in the sport of fencing
- fire ship
- a weapon consisting of a ship carrying explosives that is set adrift to destroy enemy ships
- firearm
- a portable gun
- firelock
- a muzzle loader that had a flintlock type of gunlock
- flamethrower
- a weapon that squirts ignited fuel for several yards
- foil
- a light slender flexible sword tipped by a button
- forty-five
- a .45-caliber pistol
- fowling piece
- a light shotgun used for fowling
- full metal jacket
- a lead bullet that is covered with a jacket of a harder metal (usually copper)
- fusil
- a light flintlock musket
- GA
- the first known nerve agent, synthesized by German chemists in 1936; a highly toxic combustible liquid that is soluble in organic solvents and is used as a nerve gas in chemical warfare
- Garand rifle
- a semiautomatic rifle
- gas gun
- a gun that fires gas shells
- gat
- a gangster's pistol
- Gatling gun
- an early form of machine gun having several barrels that fire in sequence as they are rotated
- GB
- a highly toxic chemical nerve agent that inhibits the activity of cholinesterase
- GD
- a nerve agent easily absorbed into the body; a lethal cholinesterase inhibitor that is highly toxic when inhaled
- grape
- a cluster of small projectiles fired together from a cannon to produce a hail of shot
- Greek fire
- a mixture used by Byzantine Greeks that was often shot at adversaries; catches fire when wetted
- guided missile
- a rocket-propelled missile whose path can be controlled during flight either by radio signals or by internal homing devices
- gun
- a weapon that discharges a missile at high velocity (especially from a metal tube or barrel)
- H-bomb
- a nuclear weapon that releases atomic energy by union of light (hydrogen) nuclei at high temperatures to form helium
- halberd
- a pike fitted with an ax head
- handbow
- a bow drawn by hand as distinguished from a crossbow
- handgun
- a firearm that is held and fired with one hand
- hatchet
- weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American Indians
- heat-seeking missile
- a missile with a guidance system that directs it toward targets emitting infrared radiation (as the emissions of a jet engine)
- high explosive
- a powerful chemical explosive that produces gas at a very high rate
- horse pistol
- a large pistol (usually in a holster) formerly carried by horsemen
- ICBM
- a ballistic missile that is capable of traveling from one continent to another
- javelin
- a spear thrown as a weapon or in competitive field events
- Kalashnikov
- a type of submachine gun made in Russia
- khukuri
- a curved steel knife with a razor-sharp edge used in combat by the Gurkhas; has cultural and religious significance in Nepal
- kiley
- an Australian boomerang; one side flat and the other convex
- kirpan
- a ceremonial four-inch curved dagger that Sikh men and women are obliged to wear at all times
- knife
- a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point
- lachrymator
- a gas that makes the eyes fill with tears but does not damage them; used in dispersing crowds
- lance
- a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
- light arm
- a rifle or pistol
- light machine gun
- a submachine gun not greater than .30 millimeter
- longbow
- a powerful wooden bow drawn by hand; usually 5-6 feet long; used in medieval England
- Luger
- a German semiautomatic pistol
- machete
- a large heavy knife used in Central and South America as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
- machine gun
- a rapidly firing automatic gun (often mounted)
- MANPAD
- a man-portable surface-to-air missile
- matchlock
- an early style of musket; a slow-burning wick would be lowered into a hole in the breech to ignite the charge
- Mauser
- trademark for a repeating rifle or pistol
- Maxim gun
- an obsolete water-cooled machine gun having a single barrel
- megaton bomb
- a nuclear weapon with an explosive power equivalent to one million tons of TNT
- minute gun
- (military) gun that is discharged once every minute (usually as part of a military funeral)
- Minuteman
- a strategic weapon system using a guided missile of intercontinental range; missiles are equipped with nuclear warheads and dispersed in hardened silos
- missile
- a rocket carrying a warhead of conventional or nuclear explosives; may be ballistic or directed by remote control
- missile
- a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled
- musket
- a muzzle-loading shoulder gun with a long barrel; formerly used by infantrymen
- muzzle loader
- an obsolete firearm that was loaded through the muzzle
- nerve agent
- a toxic gas that is inhaled or absorbed through the skin and has harmful effects on the nervous and respiratory system
- neutron bomb
- atom bomb that produces lethal neutrons with less blast
- nitrochloromethane
- gaseous form of chloropicrin used as tear gas
- organophosphate nerve agent
- any of a series of nerve agents containing organophosphate compounds first synthesized by German chemists in 1936; in World War II the Germans tested them in concentration camps but not on the battlefield; Iraq is alleged to have used them against Iran and against the Kurds
- paintball gun
- an air gun used in the game of paintball; designed to simulate a semiautomatic
- partisan
- a pike with a long tapering double-edged blade with lateral projections; 16th and 17th centuries
- peacekeeper
- the pistol of a law officer in the old West
- pellet
- a solid missile discharged from a firearm
- pepper spray
- a nonlethal aerosol spray made with the pepper derivative oleoresin capiscum; used to cause temporary blindness and incapacitate an attacker; also used as a bear deterrent
- pike
- medieval weapon consisting of a spearhead attached to a long pole or pikestaff; superseded by the bayonet
- poison gas
- a gas that is poisonous to breath or contact; used in chemical warfare
- precision rifle
- an extremely powerful rifle developed for the military; capable of destroying light armored vehicles and aircraft more than a mile away
- Quaker gun
- a dummy gun or piece of artillery made usually of wood
- quarrel
- an arrow that is shot from a crossbow; has a head with four edges
- rapier
- a straight sword with a narrow blade and two edges
- repeater
- a firearm that can fire several rounds without reloading
- revolver
- a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets)
- rifle
- a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore
- rifle ball
- a bullet designed to be fired from a rifle; no longer made spherical in shape
- riot gun
- a firearm designed to disperse rioters rather than to inflict serious injury or death
- rubber bullet
- a bullet made of hard rubber; designed for use in crowd control
- saber
- a fencing sword with a v-shaped blade and a slightly curved handle
- SAM
- a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
- Saturday night special
- a cheap handgun that is easily obtained
- sawed-off shotgun
- a shotgun with short barrels
- scattergun
- firearm that is a double-barreled smoothbore shoulder weapon for firing shot at short ranges
- scimitar
- a curved oriental saber; the edge is on the convex side of the blade
- seeker
- a missile equipped with a device that is attracted toward some kind of emission (heat or light or sound or radio waves)
- semiautomatic firearm
- an autoloader that fires only one shot at each pull of the trigger
- semiautomatic
- a pistol that is a semiautomatic firearm capable of loading and firing continuously
- set gun
- a gun that is set to fire on any intruder that comes in contact with the wire that sets it off
- shiv
- a knife used as a weapon
- sidewinder
- air-to-air missile with infrared homing device
- slasher
- a weapon (a sword or dagger) used for slashing
- sling
- a simple weapon consisting of a looped strap in which a projectile is whirled and then released
- smoothbore
- a firearm that has no rifling
- space probe
- a rocket-propelled guided missile that can escape the earth's atmosphere; makes observations of the solar system that cannot be made by terrestrial observation
- Spandau
- a German machine gun
- spitball
- a projectile made by chewing a piece of paper and shaping it into a sphere
- staphylococcal enterotoxin B
- a form of staphylococcal enterotoxin that has been used as an incapacitating agent in biological warfare
- Sten gun
- a lightweight British submachine gun
- stiletto
- a small dagger with a tapered blade
- Stinger
- a portable low altitude surface-to-air missile system using infrared guidance and an impact fuse; fired from the shoulder
- stun baton
- a weapon designed to disable a victim temporarily by delivering a nonlethal high-voltage electric shock
- submachine gun
- machine gun that is a portable automatic firearm
- Thompson submachine gun
- a .45-caliber submachine gun
- trench knife
- a knife with a double-edged blade for hand-to-hand fighting
- trident
- a spear with three prongs
- twenty-two pistol
- a .22-caliber pistol
- twenty-two rifle
- a .22-caliber rifle
- Uzi
- a type of submachine gun that is designed and manufactured in Israel
- V-1
- a small jet-propelled winged missile that carries a bomb
- Verey pistol
- a pistol for firing Very-light flares
- vouge
- a kind of pike used by foot soldiers in the 14th century
- VX gas
- a highly lethal nerve agent used in chemical warfare; a toxic liquid that penetrates the skin or lungs to disrupt the nervous system and stop respiration; in combat VX gas is deployed by detonating a container over the target area and can persist in the environment up to several weeks after release
- W.M.D.
- a weapon that kills or injures civilian as well as military personnel (nuclear and chemical and biological weapons)
- whaling gun
- a gun (or device resembling a gun) for discharging a projectile (especially a harpoon) at a whale
- Winchester
- a shoulder rifle
- yataghan
- a long Turkish knife with a curved blade having a single edge
- zip gun
- a crude homemade pistol