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e; to move, or cause to move; as, the wind or steam propels ships; balls are propelled by gunpowder.

certain by an experiment, or by a test or standard; to test; as, to prove the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3.

A substance resembling gun cotton in composition and properties, but distinct in that it is more highly nitrified and is soluble in alcohol, ether, etc.; -- called also pyroxyle.

s, variously constructed and mounted for different specific uses in astronomy, surveying, gunnery, etc., consisting commonly of a graduated arc of 90º, with an index or vernier, and either plain or telescopic sights, and usually having a plumb line or spirit level for fixing the vertical or horizontal direction. Gunner…

To adjust (a gun) on its carriage; also, to train (a gun) for horizontal firing.

m the quaking noise made during flight. Quaker buttons. (Bot.) See Nux vomica. -- Quaker gun, a dummy cannon made of wood or other material; -- so called because the sect of Friends, or Quakers, hold to the doctrine, of nonresistance. -- Quaker ladies (Bot.), a low American biennial plant (Houstonia cærulea), with pr…

Quarter gallery (Naut.), a balcony on the quarter of a ship. See Gallery, 4. -- Quarter gunner (Naut.), a petty officer who assists the gunner. -- Quarter look, a side glance. [Obs.] B. Jonson. -- Quarter nettings (Naut.), hammock nettings along the quarter rails. -- Quarter note (Mus.), a note equal in duration t…

One of the circular iron or steel rails on which the chassis of a heavy gun is turned.

A gun so placed as to rake an enemy's ship.

A rod for forcing down the charge of a gun; a ramrod.

se grassy hills, those glittering dells, Proudly ramparted with rocks. Coleridge. Rampart gun (Fort.), a cannon or large gun for use on a rampart and not as a fieldpiece.

shot not directed or aimed toward any particular object, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun much elevated. -- Random work (Masonry), stonework consisting of stones of unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor always with flat beds.

o horizontal distance; as, the temperature ranged through seventy degrees Fahrenheit; the gun ranges three miles; the shot ranged four miles.

. I'm rapt with joy to see my Marcia's tears. Addison. Rapt into future times, the bard begun. Pope.

A mount permitting easy and quick elevation or depression and training of the gun, and fitting with a device for taking up the recoil.

In the United States navy, designating such a gun using fixed ammunition or metallic cartridge cases; -- distinguished from breech- loading (abbr. B. L.), applied to all guns loading with the charge in bags, and formerly from quick-fire. Rapid-fire guns in the navy also sometimes include automatic or semiautomatic rapi…

Sudden in action; quick; hasty. [Obs.] "Strong as aconitum or rash gunpowder." Shak.

pecifically, the reaction or rebounding of a firearm when discharged. Recoil dynamometer (Gunnery), an instrument for measuring the force of the recoil of a firearm. -- Recoil escapement See the Note under Escapement.

eeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. In such case the act is said to take effect by relation.

To load again, as a gun.