cannon shotn.
/ˈkanən ʃɒt/, U.S. /ˈkænən ˌʃɑt/ 1. Ammunition shot from a cannon. Also: (as a count noun) a piece of ammunition shot, or for shooting, from a cannon.In quot. 1556 in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > of cannon
cannon shot1556
1556 tr. A. Mainardi Anatomi iv. Thes wordes be cannon shotis, ynough to beate down the whole bilding of the masse, or els thei be swordes ynough to throte cutt hir or vtterly to kill hir.
1572 Weight of Shot in Mariner's Mirror (1975) 61 354 Canon shotte of thold height lxiiii lb. Canon shotte of the newe height xlii lb.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. vii. 79 These haughtie wordes of hers Haue batt'red me like roaring Cannon-shot . View more context for this quotation
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxxvii. 167 These are cannon-shot.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3801/7 A Cannon Shot..carried away part of his Caleche.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 165 In the mean space..Jenkins had his right leg..carried off by a cannon shot.
1817 M. Wilks Hist. Sketches S. India II. xv. 47 Khâkee Shâh was cut in two by a cannon shot.
1878 J. Miller Songs Italy 119 The hail like cannon-shot struck the sea.
1945 C. E. Balleisen Princ. Firearms xi. 115 Near the end of the eighteenth century, Benjamin Robins first fired cannon shot into a heavy pendulum in order to measure the velocity of the shot.
1981 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 6 Sept. x. 1/1 Most of the pine forest that was there before the siege..was felled by cannon shot.
2004 S. Hall Electric Michelangelo 298 Sister's eyes were dense and shining dully like cannon shot.
2. The shooting or discharging of a cannon; (also) a shot fired from a cannon.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > discharge of artillery
cannon shot1567
cannonrya1583
cannoning1583
girding?c1600
cannoneering1699
playing1711
ball-firing1783
1567 G. Turberville Epitaphes, Epigrams 131 Souldiars serue in perills place and dread of Cannon shot.
1597 P. Lowe Whole Course Chirurg. vi. x. sig. Xv There is yet another kind of maladie, called commotion or astonishment of the braines..caused by falles from the high places, strokes, shot of bullets, launces, or by the sound of a Cannon shot.
1606 S. Hieron Truths Purchase 18 If he had done it by Canon-shot.
1697 J. Jackson Ess. concerning Vacuum 30 It roars like Cannon-shot, and continues for a considerable time.
1770 in tr. M. Manstein Mem. of Russia Suppl. 414 He set on foot the making a very wide and deep canal, which begins in the port of Cronstadt, and is carried on for above the length of a cannon-shot.
1824 P. Egan Boxiana II. 299 He went off his pins in such quickness of style, resembling more the celerity of a cannon shot, than in being floored from the fist of a man.
1852 G. Bancroft Hist. Amer. Revol. I. xiii. 346 Triple line was formed, out of reach of cannon-shot.
1926 Travel Nov. 35/2 ‘Adios!’ comes the low roll of reply, like a roll of cannon-shot.
1966 Long Beach (Press-Telegram) 16 Dec. b1/2 He heard what sounded like a cannon shot overhead.
2018 Daily Mail (Nexis) 22 Jan. Soon after 7.30pm, 42 cannon shots rung around Monaco, confirming that the babies had been born.
3. The distance a cannon can fire a shot; the range of a cannon. Chiefly in within cannon-shot, out of cannon-shot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > limit of distance or reach > to which a thing may be shot > specific
bowshotc1300
bow-draughtc1400
buck-shot1447
flight-shot1455
gun-shot1532
bird bolt shot1570
cannon shot?1571
pistol shot1608
bolt's-shoot1677
rifle shot1803
gun-reach1825
rifle range1830
gun-range1852
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > range of artillery
cannon shot?1571
falcon shot1598
?1571 tr. Lett. from Venice sig. A.ijv Bothe the armies beeing approched within Cannon shot, the syxe greate galeys did breake foorth, and pierced cleane thorough the Turkishe armie.
1580 Sir R. Bingham in Spenser's Wks. (Grosart) I. 463 I entered the harbour..within canon shotte of the fortress.
1643 S. Bulkley Queens return out of Holland 11 Bid them, to lye still, till the ship was gone, or to keep off out of Cannon-shot, or he would shoot at them.
1689 J. M. tr. Hist. Venetian Conquest ii. 38 The Basha of the Morea appear'd in effect, on the 3d. of July, and encamp'd within Cannon-shot of the Christian Army.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3844/4 Out of Cannon-shot of that Town.
1790 R. Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. (1804) 327 To approach within cannon-shot.
1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. ix. 131 Two men were intently occupied in a swale that lay along the borders of a little run, just out of cannon-shot from the encampment.
1882 Ballou's Monthly Mag. Aug. 140/2 Early one morning, a British squadron appeared to the leeward of her, almost within cannon-shot.
1908 Sunset Mag. Apr. Devel. Sect.: Hotel Rafael Their coverts are scarcely more than a cannon-shot from the forts which guard the Golden Gate.
1978 Indiana (Pa.) Evening-Gaz. 18 July 1/8 The fear of the West Bank under hostile leaders within cannon shot of Tel Aviv.
2014 Times (Nexis) 19 July More than 2,000 sailors died barely a cannon-shot away in cold, Scilly waters after four massive warships wandered off-course and foundered on the rocks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1556