dane gun W. and S. Afr.
Also Dane gun.
[f. Dane + gun n. 3.]
Any of several kinds of primitive firearms, orig. introduced by Danish traders.
| 1900 Daily News 25 Sept. 8/3 In the village were found 300 Dane guns, 40 rifles, three Martini-Henry carbines. 1901 Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 3/4 Three Ashantis, armed with their long dane guns. 1920 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 384/2 Every man or boy who could wield a spear or hold a dane gun. 1935 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXV. 126 The dance that followed was accompanied by the firing of dane-guns. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. xv. 103 The native with his Dane gun, or Tower musket. |