firearm

What it means

1. A personal weapon that uses explosive powder to propel a projectile often made of lead.

   David was arrested for illegal possession of firearms.

   1 more example

   Understanding gun ownership in the US can help inform debates about firearm laws (or lack thereof). […] There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, according to an estimate by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey – or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans.

   2022 June 2, Harmeet Kaur, “What studies reveal about gun ownership in the US”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2022

   Synonyms: gat, gun, iron, piece

In a sentence

David was arrested for illegal possession of firearms.

Where it comes from

1. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
2. Proto-Germanic*fōr
3. Proto-West Germanic*fuir
4. Old Englishfȳr
5. Middle Englishfyr
6. Englishfire
7. Englisharm
8. Englishfirearm

From fire (“projectile discharge”) + arm (“weapon”).