Part 655

Gun"ner*y (?), n. That branch of military science which comprehends the theory of projectiles, and the manner of constructing and using ordnance.

Gun"nie (?), n. (Mining.) Space left by the removal of ore.

Gun"ning (?), n. The act or practice of hunting or shooting game with a gun.

The art of gunning was but little practiced.

Goldsmith.

Gun"ny (?), n., Gun"ny cloth` (&?;). [Hind. gon, gon&?;,, a sack, sacking.] A strong, coarse kind of sacking, made from the fibers (called jute) of two plants of the genus Corchorus (C. olitorius and C. capsularis), of India. The fiber is also used in the manufacture of cordage.

Gunny bag, a sack made of gunny, used for coarse commodities.

Gu*noc"ra*cy (?), n. See Gyneocracy.

Gun"pow`der (?), n. (Chem.) A black, granular, explosive substance, consisting of an intimate mechanical mixture of niter, charcoal, and sulphur. It is used in gunnery and blasting.

Gunpowder consists of from 70 to 80 per cent of niter, with 10 to 15 per cent of each of the other ingredients. Its explosive energy is due to the fact that it contains the necessary amount of oxygen for its own combustion, and liberates gases (chiefly nitrogen and carbon dioxide), which occupy a thousand or fifteen hundred times more space than the powder which generated them.

Gunpowder pile driver, a pile driver, the hammer of which is thrown up by the explosion of gunpowder. -- Gunpowder plot (Eng. Hist.), a plot to destroy the King, Lords, and Commons, in revenge for the penal laws against Catholics. As Guy Fawkes, the agent of the conspirators, was about to fire the mine, which was placed under the House of Lords, he was seized, Nov. 5, 1605. Hence, Nov. 5 is known in England as Guy Fawkes Day. -- Gunpowder tea, a species of fine green tea, each leaf of which is rolled into a small ball or pellet.

Gun"reach` (?), n. The reach or distance to which a gun will shoot; gunshot.

Gun"room` (&?;), n. (Naut.) An apartment on the after end of the lower gun deck of a ship of war, usually occupied as a messroom by the commissioned officers, except the captain; -- called wardroom in the United States navy.

Gun"shot` (?), n. 1. Act of firing a gun; a shot.

2. The distance to which shot can be thrown from a gun, so as to be effective; the reach or range of a gun.

Those who are come over to the royal party are supposed to be out of gunshot.

Dryden.

Gun"shot`, a. Made by the shot of a gun: as. a gunshot wound.

Gun"smith (?), n. One whose occupation is to make or repair small firearms; an armorer.

{ Gunsmith`er*y (?), Gun"smith` ing, } n. The art or business of a gunsmith.

Gun"stick (?), n. A stick to ram down the charge of a musket, etc.; a rammer or ramrod. [R.]

Gun"stock` (?), n. The stock or wood to which the barrel of a hand gun is fastened.

Gun"stome` (?), n. A cannon ball; -- so called because originally made of stone. [Obs.] Shak.

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Gun"ter rig` (?). (Naut.) A topmast arranged with metal bands so that it will readily slide up and down the lower mast.

Gun"ter's chain` (?). (Surveying) The chain ordinarily used in measuring land. See Chain, n., 4, and Gunter's scale.

Gun"ter's line` (?). A logarithmic line on Gunter's scale, used for performing the multiplication and division of numbers mechanically by the dividers; -- called also line of lines, and line of numbers.

Gun"ter's quad`rant (?). A thin quadrant, made of brass, wood, etc., showing a stereographic projection on the plane of the equator. By it are found the hour of the day, the sun's azimuth, the altitude of objects in degrees, etc. See Gunter's scale.