What is "cannon"

Carom \Car"om\, n. [Prob. corrupted fr. F. carumboler to carom, carambolage a carom, carambole the red ball in billiards.] (Billiards) A shot in which the ball struck with the cue comes in contact with two or more balls on the table; a hitting of two or more balls with the player's ball. In England it is called cannon.

Gun \Gun\ (g[u^]n), n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir., Gael., & LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L. canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E. mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.]

1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance; any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles, consisting of a tube or barrel closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with an explosive charge (such as guncotton or gunpowder) behind, which is ignited by various means. Pistols, rifles, carbines, muskets, and fowling pieces are smaller guns, for hand use, and are called small arms. Larger guns are called cannon, ordnance, fieldpieces, carronades, howitzers, etc. See these terms in the Vocabulary.

   As swift as a pellet out of a gunne When fire is in the powder runne.
   --Chaucer.

   The word gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing from a man long before there was any gunpowder found out.
   --Selden.

2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a cannon.

3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.

   Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or manner of loading as rifled or smoothbore, breech-loading or muzzle-loading, cast or built-up guns; or according to their use, as field, mountain, prairie, seacoast, and siege guns.

   Armstrong gun, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.

   Big gun or Great gun, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence (Fig.), a person superior in any way; as, bring in the big guns to tackle the problem.

   Gun barrel, the barrel or tube of a gun.

   Gun carriage, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or moved.

   Gun cotton (Chem.), a general name for a series of explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity. Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See Pyroxylin, and cf. Xyloidin. The gun cottons are used for blasting and somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for making collodion. See Celluloid, and Collodion. Gun cotton is frequenty but improperly called nitrocellulose. It is not a nitro compound, but an ester of nitric acid.

   Gun deck. See under Deck.

   Gun fire, the time at which the morning or the evening gun is fired.

   Gun metal, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.

   Gun port (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.

   Gun tackle (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from the gun port.

   Gun tackle purchase (Naut.), a tackle composed of two single blocks and a fall.
   --Totten.

   Krupp gun, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.

   Machine gun, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns, mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the gun or guns and fired in rapid succession. In earlier models, such as the Gatling gun, the cartridges were loaded by machinery operated by turning a crank. In modern versions the loading of cartidges is accomplished by levers operated by the recoil of the explosion driving the bullet, or by the pressure of gas within the barrel. Several hundred shots can be fired in a minute by such weapons, with accurate aim. The Gatling gun, Gardner gun, Hotchkiss gun, and Nordenfelt gun, named for their inventors, and the French mitrailleuse, are machine guns.

   To blow great guns (Naut.), to blow a gale. See Gun, n., 3.

c.1400, "tube for projectiles," from Anglo-French canon, Old French canon (14c.), from Italian cannone "large tube, barrel," augmentative of Latin canna "reed, tube" (see cane (n.)). Meaning "large ordnance piece," the main modern sense, is from 1520s. Spelling not differentiated from canon till c.1800. Cannon fodder (1891) translates German kanonenfutter (compare Shakespeare's food for powder in "I Hen. IV").

n. 1 A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.(JP 1-02 Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms). 2 A bone of a horse's leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock. 3 (context historical English) A large muzzle-loading artillery piece. 4 (context sports billiards snooker pool English) A carom. 5 (context baseball figuratively informal English) The arm of a player that can throw well. 6 (context engineering English) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently. 7 (context printing English) (alternative form of canon English) (a large size of type) vb. 1 To bombard with cannons. 2 (context sports billiards snooker pool English) To play the carom billiard shot. To strike two balls with the cue ball 3 To fire something, especially spherical, rapidly.

1. n. a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels

2. heavy gun fired from a tank

3. (Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect the arm

4. heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane

5. lower part of the leg extending from the hock to the fetlock in hoofed mammals [syn: shank]

6. a shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other [syn: carom]

7. v. make a cannon

8. fire a cannon

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from 1971 to 1976 The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two crossover episodes of Barnaby Jones.

Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.

Cannon is a division of ITT Corporation that specialises in the manufacture of connectors, cable assemblies, keypads and LAN components. In 1952 it invented the industry-standard D-sub connector. In 1963 it was acquired by ITT.

A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. It can also refer to the device propelling a human cannonball.

Cannon may also refer to:

1. redirect canon (fiction)

Cannon is a comic book character from Wildstorm. He was also a member of StormWatch.

The Cannon was an automobile manufactured in Kalamazoo, Michigan, by the Burtt Manufacturing Company from 1902-06. They made several different tonneau models, with both two- and four-cylinder engines, up to 6.5L displacement.

A cannon (plural: cannon or cannons) is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannons vary in calibre, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. The word cannon is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane, or reed. In the modern era, the term cannon has fallen into decline, replaced by "guns" or "artillery" if not a more specific term such as "mortar" or "howitzer", except for in the field of aerial warfare, where it is often used as shorthand for autocannon.

First invented in China, cannons were among the earliest forms of gunpowder artillery, and over time replaced siege engines—among other forms of ageing weaponry—on the battlefield. In the Middle East, the first use of the hand cannon is argued to be during the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut between the Mamluks and Mongols. The first cannons in Europe were in use in Iberia by the mid-13th century. It was during this period, the Middle Ages, that cannons became standardized, and more effective in both the anti-infantry and siege roles. After the Middle Ages, most large cannons were abandoned in favour of greater numbers of lighter, more maneuverable pieces. In addition, new technologies and tactics were developed, making most defences obsolete; this led to the construction of star forts, specifically designed to withstand artillery bombardment, though these too (along with the Martello Tower) would find themselves rendered obsolete when explosive and armour piercing rounds made even these types of fortifications vulnerable.

Cannons also transformed naval warfare in the early modern period, as European navies took advantage of their firepower. As rifling became commonplace, the accuracy and destructive power of cannons was significantly increased, and they became deadlier than ever, both to infantry who belatedly had to adopt different tactics, and to ships, which had to be armoured. In World War I, the majority of combat fatalities were caused by artillery; they were also used widely in World War II. Most modern cannons are similar to those used in the Second World War, although the importance of the larger calibre weapons has declined with the development of missiles.

Cannons were widely known as the earliest form of a gun and artillery, before early firearms were invented.

Cannon is a lunar crater that is located near the east-northeastern limb of the Moon's near side. It lies just to the northwest of the Mare Marginis, and south-southeast of the crater Plutarch. Farther to the east-northeast is Hubble.

This is a worn and eroded formation with an interior floor that has been resurfaced by lava. A small crater overlies the north rim, which forms a notch in the side. Tiny craters also lie across the rim northeast and at the southern edge. The interior is level and nearly featureless, with only a few tiny scattered craterlets to mark the surface. This floor has the same albedo as the surrounding terrain.

The crater is named after Annie Jump Cannon, an astronomer who classified 300,000 stellar bodies.

Cannon were a five-piece, instrumental post-rock band, based in Glasgow, Scotland.

This is a list of episodes from the first season of Cannon.

This is a list of episodes from the second season of Cannon.

This is a list of episodes from the third season of Cannon.

This is a list of episodes from the fourth season of Cannon.

This is a list of episodes from the fifth and final season of Cannon.

Cannon in comics may refer to:

• Cannon (WildStorm Productions)
• Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon, a Wally Wood comic

Cannon is a surname of Gaelic origin: in Ireland specifically Tir Chonaill (Donegal) (North West Ireland); also a Manx surname Notable people with the surname include:

• Abraham H. Cannon, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 19th century
• Annie Jump Cannon, astronomer
• Anthony Cannon, American football linebacker
• Arik Cannon, professional wrestler
• Barney Cannon, country music DJ
• Ben Cannon, American teacher and politician from Oregon
• Berry L. Cannon, American aquanaut
• Billy Cannon, American football halfback
• Cavendish W. Cannon, U.S. ambassador to Morocco from 1956 to 1958
• Charles Cannon (Manitoba politician), Canadian politician
• Charles Albert Cannon, president of the Cannon Mills Company from the 1920s to the 1960s
• Charles Weldon Cannon, Texas saddlemaker
• Chris Cannon, former U.S. Representative (R-UT)
• Clarence Cannon, Democratic Congressmember from Missouri
• Danny Cannon, screenwriter, director & producer
• David Cannon (disambiguation)
• Don Cannon
• Dottie Cannon
• Drew Cannon (born 1990), American basketball statistical analyst
• Dyan Cannon
• Edwin Bennion Cannon
• Elizabeth Anne Wells Cannon
• Ellis Cannon
• Esma Cannon
• Frank J. Cannon
• Freddy Cannon
• George H. Cannon
• George Q. Cannon
• Glenn Cannon (1932–2013), American actor
• Glyn Cannon
• Gus Cannon
• Howard Cannon
• J. D. Cannon
• James P. Cannon, the first American Trotskyist leader
• James William Cannon, industrialist, founded the Cannon Mills Corporation
• James Cannon (1740–1782), Scottish-born mathematician who was one of the principal authors of Pennsylvania's 1776 Constitution
• James W. Cannon (born 1943), American mathematician working in geometric group theory and low-dimensional topology
• Bishop James Cannon Jr. (1864–1944), American temperance movement leader
• Jean Cannon
• Jim Cannon (born 1953), Scottish footballer
• Jimmy Cannon (1909-1973), American sports journalist
• Joe Cannon (soccer)
• John Cannon (disambiguation)
• Joseph Adrian Cannon, chairman of the Utah Republican Party and former chairman of Geneva Steel
• Joseph Gurney Cannon, Speaker of the US House (1903–1911)
• Kevin Cannon
• Larry Cannon (disambiguation)
• Lawrence Cannon, Canadian politician from Québec
• Lawrence A. D. Cannon, former Supreme Court of Canada justice (and great-uncle of the above)
• Leslie Cannon
• Lou Cannon
• Lucien Cannon
• Marion Cannon
• Martha Hughes Cannon
• Max Cannon
• Michael R. Cannon
• Newton Cannon, eighth Governor of Tennessee
• Nick Cannon, actor
• Patrick Cannon, American politician
• Patty Cannon
• Peter Cannon
• Philip Cannon (composer) (born 1929), British composer
• Philip L. Cannon (1850–1929), first Lieutenant Governor of Delaware
• Poppy Cannon
• Sean Cannon
• Steve Cannon (disambiguation)
• Sylvester Q. Cannon
• T. C. Cannon
• Thomas Cannon, 18th-century author
• Thomas Cannon (philanthropist), American philanthropist
• Tommy Cannon (born 1938), British comedian
• Walter Bradford Cannon
• William Cannon (disambiguation)
• Zander Cannon