automatic firearm
Definition
Noun: A firearm that reloads itself and continues to fire bullets repeatedly as long as the trigger is held down and ammunition is available.
Usage
The term "automatic firearm" is used to describe a specific class of self-loading guns. It is a technical term common in military, law enforcement, and regulatory contexts. It distinguishes these weapons from semi-automatic firearms (which fire one round per trigger pull) and manual firearms (like bolt-action rifles).
Examples
- The soldier was equipped with an automatic firearm for the assault.
- Strict laws regulate the private ownership of automatic firearms in many countries.
- The museum had a display of historical automatic firearms, including early machine guns.
Advanced Usage
- Legal and Technical Context: In legal definitions, an "automatic firearm" is often categorized as a "machine gun." Its key characteristic is that a single, continuous pull of the trigger produces more than one shot.
- "Fully automatic firearm": This is a more precise variant sometimes used to avoid confusion with semi-automatic weapons, explicitly meaning a firearm that fires continuously.
Variants and Related Words
- Machine gun: A common type of automatic firearm, often designed for sustained fire.
- Assault rifle: A military-style selective-fire rifle capable of both automatic and semi-automatic fire.
- Submachine gun: A compact automatic firearm that fires pistol-caliber ammunition.
- Automatic weapon: A broader, sometimes synonymous term for an automatic firearm.
- Automatic (noun, informal): A shortened, informal reference to an automatic firearm (e.g., "He was carrying an automatic.").
Synonyms
- Machine gun
- Fully automatic weapon
- Auto-weapon (less common)
Antonyms
- Semi-automatic firearm (fires one round per trigger pull)
- Manual firearm (e.g., bolt-action, lever-action rifle)
- Single-shot firearm
Related Phrases
- Selective-fire: A capability of some firearms to switch between automatic, semi-automatic, and sometimes burst-fire modes.
- Automatic fire: The action of firing an automatic firearm; the continuous discharge of ammunition.
- Cycle of operation: The automated process in an automatic firearm (feeding, chambering, firing, extracting, ejecting).
Noun
-
a firearm that reloads itself and keeps firing until the trigger is released
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