cannoneer
(kænəˈnɪə(r))
Also 6– cannonier.
[a. F. canonnier = It. cannoniere, Sp. cañonero, Pg. canhoneiro: see cannon and -eer1.]
An artilleryman who manages the laying and firing of a cannon; a gunner.
| 1562 Act 5 Eliz. v. §12 Gunners, commonly called Canoneers. 1590 Marlowe 2nd pt. Tamburl. iii. iii. ad fin., To save our cannoneers from musket-shot. 1591 Garrard Art Warre 303 The Cannoniers ought to be readie. 1674 Wallis in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 588 Practical cannoneers..find the random of a bullet very different from the parabola. 1795 in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. Introd. 77 Ordnance stores for the siege, and cannoniers. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 244 The Irish cannoneers stood gallantly to their pieces. |
Hence cannoˈneering vbl. n., management of cannon; cannonading.
| 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 31 The present perfection of gunnery, cannoneering, bombarding, mining, and all these species of artificial..cruelty. |