PISTOL (pistolled, pistolling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: pistolled    , pistolling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pistol mean? 

• PISTOL (noun)
  The noun PISTOL has 1 sense:

1. a firearm that is held and fired with one hand

  Familiarity information: PISTOL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PISTOL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A firearm that is held and fired with one hand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

handgun; pistol; shooting iron; side arm

Hypernyms ("pistol" is a kind of...):

firearm; piece; small-arm (a portable gun)

Meronyms (parts of "pistol"):

gunstock; stock (the handle of a handgun or the butt end of a rifle or shotgun or part of the support of a machine gun or artillery gun)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pistol"):

automatic; automatic pistol (a pistol that will keep firing until the ammunition is gone or the trigger is released)

derringer (a pocket pistol of large caliber with a short barrel)

forty-five (a .45-caliber pistol)

gat; rod (a gangster's pistol)

horse-pistol; horse pistol (a large pistol (usually in a holster) formerly carried by horsemen)

peacekeeper (the pistol of a law officer in the old West)

revolver; six-gun; six-shooter (a pistol with a revolving cylinder (usually having six chambers for bullets))

Saturday night special (a cheap handgun that is easily obtained)

semiautomatic; semiautomatic pistol (a pistol that is a semiautomatic firearm capable of loading and firing continuously)

Verey pistol; Very pistol (a pistol for firing Very-light flares)

zip gun (a crude homemade pistol)

Derivation:

pistoleer (someone armed with a pistol (especially a soldier so armed))

 Context examples 

I think, Watson, that it would be as well for you to have your pistol ready.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On which Tom drew his pistol, and blew Dan’s brains out.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In his hand he held a pistol, but he thrust it into his pocket as we advanced.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Mr. Hands,” he said, “here are two of us with a brace of pistols each. If any one of you six make a signal of any description, that man's dead.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The report of the pistol brought a crowd into the room.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

As to you, Carruthers, you would have done better to keep your pistol in your pocket.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He heard the click of my pistol and laughed.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I said this whilst I knelt down at, and unlocked a trunk which contained a brace of loaded pistols: I mean to shoot myself.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The next thing he demanded was one of the hollow iron pillars; by which he meant my pocket pistols.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The leader turned to them and gave a word at which every man of the gypsy party drew what weapon he carried, knife or pistol, and held himself in readiness to attack.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)