Gun

a strong metal tube designed to direct the flight of a bullet or other projectile. The bullet is expelled forcibly by a gas due to the ignition of gunpowder or other explosive. In its original sense the term includes not only pistols, revolvers, shotguns, rifles, muskets, and firearms of every description, but the largest cannon as well. Guns, that is to say, small cannon, or firearms, were used in warfare for the first time at the battle of Crecy, 1346. See Firearms; Cannon