ESL Podcast 534 - Types of Guns and Weapons

to peg (someone) as (something) - to believe that someone has certain characteristics or will behave a certain way

I always pegged Sinclair as a great decision-maker, so I was really surprised by his indecisiveness yesterday.

non-violent - not believing that people should hurt each other, and uninterested in guns and other weapons

They only let their children watch non-violent movies that won't scare them.

fascination - an extreme interest; having a strong feeling toward and an interest in something

Growing up on an island, he has always had a fascination with dolphins and whales.

to come from a long line of (something) - to be descended from many people who have had the same job; for many of one's relatives to have worked in the same field

Although Almendra comes from a long line of musicians, she doesn't know how to play any musical instruments.

military officer - a person who has a leadership role in the army, navy, air force, or a similar organization

He became a military officer in 1983, and now he is an army general.

to fire - to move one's finger while holding a gun so that it makes a loud noise and sends out a bullet that moves very quickly; to make a gun or another weapon work

Bruno fired his gun at the birds several times, but he didn't hit anything.

pistol - a small gun that one can hold in just one hand

A pistol is very small, but deadly.

rifle - a very long gun that one shoots by putting the back end against one's shoulder

Last weekend, they took their rifles into the woods, but they didn't find any deer.

good shot - a person who knows how to use a gun and is able to make the bullet go where he or she wants it to go

She's a very good shot and can hit almost anything from 300 feet away.

target - an object that people try to hit with a gun or arrow to improve their aim (their ability to send something in a particular direction)

Trainees have to spend many hours shooting at targets before they can become police officers.

hunting - the practice of killing animals, usually with a gun or arrow, either for food or for fun

Alejandra hates all types of hunting, because she thinks killing animals is wrong.

to hone (one's) skills - to improve one's ability to do something; to get better at doing something

Joachim studied in Paris for a year to hone his cooking skills.

target practice - the activity of shooting at targets to improve one's ability to control where a bullet will go

They put some tin cans on the fence and shot at them from a distance for target practice.

machine gun - a large gun that fires many bullets automatically and very quickly

Machine guns allow soldiers to shoot more quickly, because they don't have to reload their gun manually between shots.

grenade launcher - a machine that sends a grenade (a small, handheld bomb normally thrown by a soldier) very far through the air

Grenade launchers let soldiers throw grenades further than they could throw them with their hand.

weapon - a tool that is used to hurt or kill another person or animal

When Stephen heard a loud noise in the middle of the night, he picked up a baseball bat and planned to use it as a weapon against the intruder.

missile - a bomb that is sent through the air for a long distance and explodes when it hits a building or the ground

The missile was supposed to hit the army headquarters, but it hit a hospital instead by mistake.

antiballistic missile - a bomb that is made to hit another missile while it is still in the air, making it explode before it hits something else and kills people

How often do antiballistic missiles actually hit another missile, and how often do they miss?

torpedo - a bomb that is sent through the ocean water, deep below the surface, usually by a submarine (a boat that travels in deep water) and explodes when it hits something

How many submarines were destroyed by torpedoes during the Cold War?

tank - a very large, heavy vehicle that is used by the army, with thick metal sides to protect the people inside, and with large guns for fighting

The soldiers shot at the tank, but their bullets didn't do any damage to it.