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A chamber in a gun for holding a number of cartridges to be fed automatically to the piece.

a piece of mechanism, especially the moving spring of a watch or clock or the spring in a gunlock which impels the hammer. Hence: The chief or most powerful motive; the efficient cause of action.

ometimes used for the protection of sappers or riflemen while attacking a fortress, or of gunners at embrasures; -- now commonly written mantlet.

A building of masonry, generally circular, usually erected on the seacoast, with a gun on the summit mounted on a traversing platform, so as to be fired in any direction.

ighted matches. -- Quick match, threads of cotton or cotton wick soaked in a solution of gunpowder mixed with gum arabic and boiling water and afterwards strewed over with mealed powder. It burns at the rate of one yard in thirteen seconds, and is used as priming for heavy mortars, fireworks, etc. -- Slow match, slig…

An old form of gunlock containing a match for firing the priming; hence, a musket fired by means of a match.

Formerly, in the British service, a gunner or a gunner's mate; one of the soldiers in a train of artillery, who assisted the gunners in loading, firing, and sponging the guns. [Obs.]

rp. When first gathered the flesh is hard and austere, and it is not eaten until it has begun to decay. Japan medlar (Bot.), the loquat. See Loquat. -- Neapolitan medlar (Bot.), a kind of thorn tree (Cratægus Azarolus); also, its fruit.

of sound, color, flavor, style, etc. "The mellow horn." Wordsworth. "The mellow-tasted Burgundy." Thomson. The tender flush whose mellow stain imbues Heaven with all freaks of light. Percival.

The effective power or caliber of guns carried by a vessel of war.

The incorporated materials for gunpowder, in the form of a dense mass or cake, ready to be subjected to the process of granulation.

to cut down these immense trees, the spoilers... had mined them, and placed a quantity of gunpowder in the cavity. Sir W. Scott.

-- Minute glass, a glass measuring a minute or minutes by the running of sand. -- Minute gun, a discharge of a cannon repeated every minute as a sign of distress or mourning. -- Minute hand, the long hand of a watch or clock, which makes the circuit of the dial in an hour, and marks the minutes.

A breech-loading machine gun consisting of a number of barrels fitted together, so arranged that the barrels can be fired simultaneously, or successively, and rapidly.

her, no matter how thoroughly and finely commingled; -- contrasted with a compound; thus, gunpowder is a mechanical mixture of carbon, sulphur, and niter.

ow in the water, and having one or more heavily-armored revolving turrets, carrying heavy guns.

A short, round iron bar or lever used in naval gunnery. Totten.

of which yield valuable red and yellow dyes. The wood is hard and beautiful, and used for gunstocks.

. Morning gown, a gown worn in the morning before one is dressed for the day. -- Morning gun, a gun fired at the first stroke of reveille at military posts. -- Morning sickness (Med.), nausea and vomiting, usually occurring in the morning; -- a common sign of pregnancy. -- Morning star. (a) Any one of the planets (V…

Hence: To put upon anything that sustains and fits for use, as a gun on a carriage, a map or picture on cloth or paper; to prepare for being worn or otherwise used, as a diamond by setting, or a sword blade by adding the hilt, scabbard, etc.