English

Alternative forms

• quaker gun

Noun

Quaker gun ‎(plural Quaker guns)

1. (chiefly US, idiomatic, military, weaponry) A nonfunctional imitation of a gun or of a piece of artillery, typically made of wood and usually intended to deceive enemy forces into overestimating one's available firepower.
   • 1843, James Fenimore Cooper, Wyandotte, ch. 21:

     "At all events, your honour, I will carry the quaker in," said Joyce, tossing the stuffed figure on a shoulder. "He do to man the quaker gun at least, and may be of use in frightening some one of the other side."

   • 1861 Oct. 4, "The Great Rebellion," New York Times (retrieved 30 Oct. 2011):

     The Quaker gun found there was consigned to the flames to-day, and in its stead heavy artillery, of the genuine sort, commands all the surrounding country.

References

• Quaker gun at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Noun

quaker gun ‎(plural quaker guns)

1. Alternative form of Quaker gun