can|non

can|non «KAN uhn», noun, plural -nons or (collectively) -non, verb.

–n.

1. a big gun that is too large to be carried by hand and is fixed to the ground, or mounted on a carriage or in a tank or other vehicle, or on an airplane. Cannons can be raised and lowered to different positions, such as the howitzer used as an artillery piece, or can be set in a fixed position, such as a mortar. The old-fashioned kind of cannon that fired cannonballs was much used during the Civil War and as the principal piece of naval armament until the twentieth century.

2. = cannon bone. (Cf. ↑cannon bone)

3. Mechanics. a hollow, cylindrical piece that revolves or is capable of revolving on and independently of a shaft.

4. the metal loop by which a bell is suspended; ear.

5. British, Billiards. = carom. (Cf. ↑carom)

6. a smooth, round bit for a horse; cannon bit.

7. U.S. Slang. a pickpocket: »

Like all big sports events, the crowd and its money attract a big turnout of confidence men, touts, bookmakers and cannons (This Week).

–v.i.

1. to discharge a cannon.

2. British, Billiards. = carom. (Cf. ↑carom)

3. to come into collision: »

to cannon against a tree.

–v.t.

1. to attack with cannon; cannonade: »

My mother was killed when the Russians cannoned the village (New Yorker).

2. British, Billiards. to cause to carom.

╂[< Old French canon < Italian cannone < canna tube < Latin canna reed, tube, cane]