small arms
 輕武器


 Small a. [Compar. Smaller superl. Smallest.]
 1. Having little size, compared with other things of the same kind; little in quantity or degree; diminutive; not large or extended in dimension; not great; not much; inconsiderable; as, a small man; a small river.
 To compare
 Great things with small.   --Milton.
 2. Being of slight consequence; feeble in influence or importance; unimportant; trivial; insignificant; as, a small fault; a small business.
 3. Envincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; -- sometimes, in reproach, paltry; mean.
    A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man.   --Carlyle.
 4. Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short; as, after a small space.
 5. Weak; slender; fine; gentle; soft; not loud. “A still, small voice.”
 Great and small,of all ranks or degrees; -- used especially of persons.  “His quests, great and small.” --Chaucer.
 Small arms, muskets, rifles, pistols, etc., in distinction from cannon.
 Small beer. See under Beer.
 Small coal. (a) Little coals of wood formerly used to light fires. --Gay. (b) Coal about the size of a hazelnut, separated from the coarser parts by screening.
 Small craft Naut., a vessel, or vessels in general, of a small size.
 Small fruits. See under Fruit.
 Small hand, a certain size of paper. See under Paper.
 Small hours. See under Hour.
 Small letter. Print., a lower-case letter. See Lower-case, and Capital letter, under Capital, a.
 Small piece, a Scotch coin worth about 2¼d. sterling, or about 4½cents.
 Small register. See the Note under 1st Register, 7.
 Small stuff Naut., spun yarn, marline, and the smallest kinds of rope. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
 Small talk, light or trifling conversation; chitchat.
 Small wares Com., various small textile articles, as tapes, braid, tringe, and the like. --M‘Culloch.


 Arms n. pl.
 1. Instruments or weapons of offense or defense.
    He lays down his arms, but not his wiles.   --Milton.
    Three horses and three goodly suits of arms.   --Tennyson.
 2. The deeds or exploits of war; military service or science. “Arms and the man I sing.”
 3. Law Anything which a man takes in his hand in anger, to strike or assault another with; an aggressive weapon.
 4. Her. The ensigns armorial of a family, consisting of figures and colors borne in shields, banners, etc., as marks of dignity and distinction, and descending from father to son.
 5. Falconry The legs of a hawk from the thigh to the foot.
 Bred to arms, educated to the profession of a soldier.
 In arms, armed for war; in a state of hostility.
 Small arms, portable firearms known as muskets, rifles, carbines, pistols, etc.
 A stand of arms, a complete set for one soldier, as a musket, bayonet, cartridge box and belt; frequently, the musket and bayonet alone.
 To arms! a summons to war or battle.
 Under arms, armed and equipped and in readiness for battle, or for a military parade.
 Arm's end, Arm's length, Arm's reach. See under Arm.

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 Gun n.
 1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are called small arms.  Larger guns are called cannon, ordnance, fieldpieces, carronades, howitzers, etc. See these terms in the Vocabulary.
 As swift as a pellet out of a gunne
 When fire is in the powder runne.   --Chaucer.
    The word gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing from a man long before there was any gunpowder found out.   --Selden.
 2. Mil. A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a cannon.
 3. pl. Naut. Violent blasts of wind.
 Note: ☞ Guns are classified, according to their construction or manner of loading as rifled or smoothbore, breech-loading or muzzle-loading, cast or built-up guns; or according to their use, as field, mountain, prairie, seacoast, and siege guns.
 Armstrong gun, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.
 Big gun or Great gun, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence  (Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big guns to tackle the problem.
 Gun barrel, the barrel or tube of a gun.
 Gun carriage,  the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved.
 Gun cotton Chem., a general name for a series of explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity. Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See Pyroxylin, and cf. Xyloidin. The gun cottons are used for blasting and somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for making collodion. See Celluloid, and Collodion. Gun cotton is frequenty but improperly called nitrocellulose. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester of nitric acid.
 Gun deck. See under Deck.
 Gun fire, the time at which the morning or the evening gun is fired.
 Gun metal, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc.  The name is also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.
 Gun port Naut., an opening in a ship through which a cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.
 Gun tackle Naut., the blocks and pulleys affixed to the side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from the gun port.
 Gun tackle purchase Naut., a tackle composed of two single blocks and a fall. --Totten.
 Krupp gun, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.
 Machine gun, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns, mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the gun or guns and fired in rapid succession.  In earlier models, such as the Gatling gun, the cartridges were loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel.  Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such weapons, with accurate aim. The Gatling gun, Gardner gun, Hotchkiss gun, and Nordenfelt gun, named for their inventors, and the French mitrailleuse, are machine guns.
 To blow great guns Naut., to blow a gale. See Gun, n., 3.