young gunn.
/ˌjʌŋ ˈɡʌn/, U.S. /ˈˌjəŋ ˈɡən/ 1. A small gun, a pistol. Now rare. Cf. young adj. 7.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > pistol
pistolet1550
potguna1556
pistol?1560
snapper1587
pistoletto1647
pop1708
gun1744
cracker1751
stick1781
barking iron1785
barker1815
young gun1822
buffer1824
reporter1827
iron1828
flute1842
cannon1901
1822 R. Richardson Trav. Mediterranean II. xv. 26 There is just as much reason as there would be for calling a dagger a young sword, or a pistol a young gun.
1855 M. Rafter Percy Blake I. xxi. 310 I declare to my gracious if it ben't a box full of young guns.
1917 M. Rollins Village Pest xvi. 240 With each discharge there was a report that would have done justice to a ‘young gun’.
2. A young person who uses a gun; (also) a person who is inexperienced in the use of guns. Cf. gun n. 5.
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1840 Miss Blackwell Ernestine I. xi. 252 If any mischief happened to the rare birds, it would probably arise from the ‘young guns’.
1899 Country Life Illustr. 1 Apr. 416/1 The young gun should be taught to calculate..the point at which his charge should intercept the quarry.
1907 Times 8 Aug. 13/4 Many a young gun..takes it as a matter of course that the birds should come over him.
1999 R. L. Turner & R. J. Higgs Cowboy Way i. 4 Cherry and Matthew size each other up, and Groot predicts an eventual showdown between the two young guns.
2006 Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) (Electronic ed.) 3 Dec. b4 This young gun shot four of them [sc. deer].
3. colloquial. An assertive or ambitious young person, esp. within a particular organization or institution.
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1929 Steubenville (Ohio) Herald-Star 28 Dec. 6/5 You can just hear the young guns gab.
1971 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 June 1/4 (heading) A young gun in office makes a lot of noise, but does little else.
1994 CIO 1 Mar. 44/1 Things were destined for change when young guns..took the corporate reins.
2005 Financial Times 19 Nov. (Christmas Unwrapped section) 10/3 However lean and keen these young guns are, the old boy network still has plenty of aces up its collective sleeve.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1822