cannon /ˈkæn.ən/noun 13verb 4forms 3phrases 1 noun13 •the long heavy metal part of a large army gun that the shot comes out of, together with the parts that fire it •Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube. •An autocannon. •(historical) A large muzzle-loading artillery piece. •(informal, figurative) The arm of a player who can throw well.He’s got a cannon out in right. •A carom.In English billiards, a cannon is when one’s cue ball strikes the other player’s cue ball and the red ball on the same shot; and it is worth two points. •A bone of a horse’s leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock. •A rolled and filleted loin of meat. •(historical) A cylindrical item of plate armor protecting the arm, particularly one of a pair of such cylinders worn with a couter, the upper cannon protecting the upper arm and the lower cannon protecting the forearm.The pauldrons are rather weak, but the cannons of the vambraces are good and come from an Italian armour of considerably earlier date, for they have the tulip form of the first half of the century. — 1949 •A piece which moves horizontally and vertically like a rook but captures another piece by jumping over a different piece in the line of attack. •A cannon bit. •A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently. •(US, slang) A pickpocket. verb4 •To bombard with cannons. •To play the carom billiard shot; to strike two balls with the cue ball.The white cannoned off the red onto the pink. •To collide or strike violently, especially so as to glance off or rebound.[…] he heard the right-hand goal post crack as a pony cannoned into it—crack, splinter, and fall like a mast. — 1898 •To fire something, especially spherical, rapidly.Montenegro had hardly threatened in the second period but served notice they were still potent as Nikola Vukcevic took a smart pass from Jovetic and cannoned a shot off Hennessey's shins. — 2011 formscannoned · cannoning · cannons Phrases with cannon loose cannonA cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, with the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew.
