gunner
(ˈgʌnə(r))
Forms: 4–6 gonner, 5–6 gunnar(e, (6 goonner, gouner), Sc. gounar, guner, 5– gunner.
[ME. gonner, gunner, f. gunne gun, after AF. analogies: see -er2.]
1. a. One whose office it is to work a cannon. In the British army, now the designation of all privates of artillery except the ‘drivers’. In 15th c. Eng.-Latin glossaries it is often rendered by L. words meaning ‘one who works a mangonel’ or the like: cf. gun n. (In 16th c. sometimes = handgunner; cf. sense 4.)
| 1344 Househ. Ord. (1790) 4 Marynors Armorers Artellers Gonners. [1347 Camden Rem. Artillarie (1623) 208 cites ‘gunnarij’ as receiving pay at the siege of Calais.] 1401 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 58 The devel is ȝour duke, and pride berith the baner; wraththe is ȝoure gunner, envie is ȝour archer. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xviii, Their gonners standyng at corners with this also, and caste of wylde fyre. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 219/1 Gunnare, or he þat swagythe a gunne, petrarius, mangonalius. 1483 Cath. Angl. 168/2 A Gunner, fundilabarius, fundibalista. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxx. I vij, Item for the gonners shal be appoynted L Carpenters and tuenty labores. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 195 Gonners hamers of Iron—xij. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 41 Gunnaris, cum heir & stand by ȝour artailzee, euyrie gunnar til his auen quartar. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 823/1 In the towne of Lisle was a noise that three gunners with hand guns should have slaine the king. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 228 [He] caussit his gounaris to charge his arteillzerie. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 133 With euery peece of Ordinance..there ought to go two or three Gunners. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. Prol. 32 The nimble gunner with lynstock now the devilish cannon touches. 1600 R. Cawdrey Treasurie 606 Gunners winke with the left eye, that they may leuell more truely. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Sea-men 24 Gunners spunge your Ordinances. 1766 Entick London IV. 339 Four quarter gunners, and forty warders. 1808 Scott Marm. i. ix, The gunner held his linstock yare. 1868 Kinglake Crimea (1877) III. i. 193 The gunner got their range. 1893 W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 72 Middleton's battery..dashed forward with loud cheers, the drivers waving their whips and the gunners their caps. |
b. In the navy, a warrant officer who has special charge of the battery, small arms, magazine, and ordnance stores.
| 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 220 To the maister lxvjs viij{supd} the purser xls the Boteswayne xls Steward xxxs & the Gonner xxxvijs vj{supd}. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 49 The Master, the Swabber, the Boate-swaine & I; The Gunner, and his Mate. a 1642 Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 342/2 A principal thing in a Gunner at Sea is to be a good Helms-Man, and to call to him at Helm to Loof. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. x. (1840) 232 This man they called captain was the gunner only. 1815 A. Burn Mem. (1816) I. 16 The boatswain, gunner and carpenter, my messmate and myself, got together. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 79 The oldest and most experienced men in the ship are usually selected for gunners. |
c. Master gunner: the chief gunner in charge of ordnance and ammunition, formerly
spec. an officer under the Crown, the name still being retained as an honorary title conferred on distinguished soldiers; also, in more recent use, a warrant officer in the Royal Artillery who has charge of the stores and equipment in a fortification or other armed place.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII (1550) 41 b, Than oute brast the ordinaunce..and the Master gonner of the Englishe parte slew the Master gonner of Scotlande. 1598 W. Phillips Linschoten i. iii. 5 One Master gunner, and eight vnder him, haue each man a different pay. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. viii. 34 The Master Gunner hath the charge of the ordnance, and shot, powder, match, ladles, spunges, wormes, cartrages, armes and fire-workes; and the rest of the Gunners..to receive their charge from him. 1647 L. Haward Charges Crown Rev. 21 Master Gunner of England: Fee, per diem 2.s. 6.d. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. Money Chas. & Jas. (Camden) 95 To Thomas Silver, master gunner at Whitehall, for himself and the rest of the gunners of Whitehall, bounty to them..20l. 1802 C. James Milit. Dict., Master gunner, in a ship of war, an officer appointed to take charge of the artillery and ammunition aboard, and to teach the men the exercise of the great guns. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Mil. Dict. 1880 Tennyson Revenge xi, Sink me the ship, Master Gunner. 1904 Standard 20 Dec. 5/3 Field Marshal Earl Roberts, V.C., K.G., has been appointed Master Gunner of St. James's Park. 1918 E. S. Farrow Dict. Mil. Terms, Master Gunner... In the United States, an enlisted specialist of the non-commissioned staff Coast Artillery Corps, who is assigned to duty as assistant to the Artillery Engineer in connection with the preparation of charts, maps, drawings, range tables, etc., in a coast defense command. 1966 Chambers's Encycl. VI. 667/1 Master⁓gunners are warrant-officers of artillery, generally placed in charge of one or more forts. |
d. fig.| 1657 Cokaine Obstin. Lady i. i. Dram. Wks. (1874) 29 The young gunner, Mr. Cupid, has somewhat tam'd me. 1698 Farquhar Love & Bottle i. Wks. 1892 I. 25 That little pimping Cupid is a blind gunner. 1706–7 ― Beaux Strat. iv. i, O, Sister, I'm but a young Gunner, I shall be afraid to shoot, for fear the Piece should recoil. |
e. A member of an aircraft crew who operates a gun.
Cf. aerial gunner s.v. aerial a. 5,
air-gunner s.v. air n.1 B. III. 3.
| [1910 C. C. Turner Aerial Navig. xv. 211 Swift must be the aerial gunner's calculation.] 1918 E. Middleton Glorious Exploits of Air (caption, facing p. 240) He dived to 500 feet, thus enabling his gunner, 1st A.M. Donald, to open heavy fire on them. 1919 Blackburn & Newby All about Aircraft 25 To be efficient a gunner must have a good eye. 1935 C. G. Burge Complete Bk. Aviation 168/2 Many interesting developments have been designed to protect the gunner from the air pressure when flying at these high speeds. 1968 Encycl. Brit. X. 1037/1 To assist the gunner in manual aiming, a movable wind vane type of gun sight, calibrated and designed to compensate for the forward motion of the gunner's own aircraft, is often placed on the forward end of the gun barrel. |
2. In phraseological uses with the possessive case:
gunner's coin, a wedge of metal used to raise a cannon or mortar to the desired elevation;
gunner's daughter, a jocular name amongst seamen for the gun to which sailors were ‘married’,
i.e. lashed, to receive punishment;
gunner's gang, the men under the direct superintendence of the gunner (Hamersly
Naval Encycl. 1881);
gunner's handspike, one shorter and flatter than the ordinary handspike, and shod with iron at the point (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk. 1867);
gunner's ladle (see
ladle);
gunner's mate, a petty officer of a ship appointed to assist the gunner;
gunner's pendulum (see
quot.);
gunner's piece, the fragment of a burst gun which flies upward (Hamersly);
gunner's quadrant (see
quadrant);
gunner's ring,
gunner's rule,
gunner's ruler,
gunner's scale (see
quots.);
gunner's tailor, ‘an old rating for the man who made the cartridge bags’ (Smyth).
| 1779 Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 257 The island from the S.W. appears like a wedge, or what seamen call a *gunner's coin. |
| 1821 Byron in Moore Lett. (1833) III. 139 As..Captain Whitby..used to say to his seamen (when ‘married to the *gunner's daughter’)—‘two dozen, and let you off easy’. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xiv, I was punished,..—made to kiss..the gunner's daughter. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxii, I'll marry some of you young gentlemen to the gunner's daughter. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) Chargeoir,..a *gunner's ladle. |
| 1708 R. Proclam. in Lond. Gaz. No. 4440/1 The Midshipmen, Carpenters Mates, Boatswains Mates, *Gunners Mates. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xi. (1840) 234 A gunner's mate on board an English East India ship. |
| 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3), *Pendulum, Gunner's—consists of an upright frame of wood, having a cross-arm attached to it, from which a pendulum is suspended, vibrating seconds..It is used to measure the time of flight of a mortar shell. |
| 1628 R. Norton Gunner xxxii. 95 The *Gunners Quadrant. 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. ii. iii. 92 A Gunner's Quadrant to level, elevate, or depress his Gun. 1898 N. & Q. 15 Oct. 309/2 The ‘gunner's quadrant’ was a quadrant with a ruler attached and also a plumb-line; the end of the ruler was inserted in the muzzle of the gun, and the plumb-line cutting the lines on the quadrant marked the proper degrees of elevation. |
| 1866 Chamb. Jrnl. No. 28. 229 That peculiar wreath of smoke, apparent when a gun has been greased at the muzzle, and known as the ‘*gunner's ring’. |
| 1692 Capt. Smith's Seaman's Gram. ii. xxiv. 129 This *Gunner's Rule was invented. A *Gunner's Ruler, for the Elevating of any Piece of Ordnance to any degree of Mounture. |
| 1628 R. Norton Gunner xxxi. 94 My *Gunners Scale is to be made in Brasse..And in Wood. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. ix. 375/2 A Gunners Scale, one side being divided into inches, quarters and halfquarters, with a Gunners Quadrant described upon it; the other having the names of all sorts of Ordnance. |
3. One who makes or attends to guns; a gunmaker, gunsmith.
Obs. exc. dial.| 1463 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 225 My masters gonner..schalle haue euery weke xij.d., and mete, and drynke, and beddynge. c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy Soc.) 11 Gouners, maryners, and shypmaysters. 1555 Acc. in T. Sharp Cov. Myst. (1825) 193 Payd to xvij gonnarys lxijs. iiijd. 1556 Ibid., xiiij gonnars and a lakye lixs. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Gunner, a workman who repairs fire-arms; a gun-smith. |
4. One who shoots with a sporting gun or fowling piece; one who goes shooting game. (Sometimes used contemptuously in contradistinction to
sportsman.)
| 1753 Scots Mag. Mar. 144/1 A gunner met them in the vale. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 392 Corn..beat down by pointers, spaniels, gunners, &c. going over it before it be cut. 1794 Mrs. Piozzi Synon. I. 292 Partridge fall at every stroke of the gunner. 1814 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 92 These gunners..literally make a merit of their wasteful expenditure of ammunition. 1843 Zoologist I. 13 The swallows are sadly persecuted by strolling gunners from the town. 1878 Daily News 24 Oct. 6/4 These birds are very seldom trapped in nets, caught with birdlime, or killed by gunners. 1890 S. W. Baker Wild Beasts I. Pref. 7 A vast gulf separates the true sportsman from the merciless gunner... The gunner is the curse of the nineteenth century; his one idea is to use his gun, his love is slaughter, indiscriminate and boundless. |
5. big gunner,
handgunner, etc.: one who attends to a big gun, a handgun, etc.
horse gunner: a member of the Royal Horse Artillery.
| 1530 [see handgunner]. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 206 'Orse Gunner listen to my Song. 1897 Ld. Roberts 41 Yrs. India ii. (1898) 7 A fixed resolve to leave no stone unturned in the endeavour to become a horse gunner. 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 168 Gunner, term applied to the man who works the big gun aboard a double punt; aboard a single, often styled a ‘big gunner’. 1931 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXVIII. 121 Two other officers, one a Sapper and one a Gunner—I believe I ought to say one of the Royal Engineers, one of the Royal Artillery. |
6. With number prefixed: A vessel carrying (so many) guns.
| 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xx, That there is..not less than a forty-four gunner. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 22 July 10/1 The design of the ship is that of a thirty-gunner of the sixteenth century. |
† 7. slang. (See
quot. 1709
s.v. gunster.)
Obs. 8. dial. in certain applications of obscure origin. [Perh. unconnected words.]
a. The Sea Bream,
Pagellus centrodontus.
b. The Great Northern Diver,
Colymbus glacialis.
| a. 1859 Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 149 At Antrim it [the Sea Bream] is called Murranroe and Barwin, and on the north⁓west coast Gunner. 1880–4 F. Day Brit. Fishes I. 37. |
| b. 1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 37/2 Colymbus glacialis..is provincially called..Gunner and Greater Doucker. 1863 H. G. Adams Feathered Fam. 252 The Ring-necked Loon (Colymbus glacialis), sometimes called the..Gunner. |
9. attrib., as
gunner-like adv.;
gunner-fluke Sc., the turbot;
† gunner-room = gun-room 1.
| 1628 R. Norton Gunner xxxviii. 101 How to loade a Peece of Ordnance Gunner-like. 1676 W. Row Contn. Blair's Autobiog. x. (1848) 229 Mr. Hutchison persuaded him to come up only to the gunner-room. 1710 Sibbald Hist. Fife & Kinross (1803) 119 Rhombus aculeatus Rondeletii: our fishers call it, the Gunner Flook. 1884 A. Forbes Chinese Gordon ii. 49 The gunner non-coms. replied with groans. |
Hence
† ˈgunnered ppl. a., trained in gunnery;
ˈgunneress, a female gunner;
ˈgunnership, the position of gunner.
| 1628 J. Butler in R. Norton Gunner A 4, Expert Gunnered Engineers. 1836 Boston, Lincoln, etc. Herald 23 Feb. 4/2 The gunner-ship of Dover Castle, which is now vacant, is in the gift of the Duke of Wellington. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. vii. v, The seized cannon are yoked with seized cart⁓horses: brown-locked Demoiselle Théroigne, with pike and helmet, sits there as gunneress. |