mitrailleuse

英 [miːtrɑː'jɜːz] 美 [,mitrə'jɝz]
  • n. (法)老式机枪
mitrailleuse
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mitrailleuse (n.)
kind of machine gun, from French mitrailleuse (19c.), from Old French mitaille (14c.) "small coins," hence "old iron, scrap iron," then "grapeshot;" originally a diminutive of mite "a small coin" (see mite (n.2)). "For sense development it should be borne in mind that orig. guns used to be loaded with scrap iron" [Klein].