Quaker gun

See also: quaker gun

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

An allusion to the pacifism associated with practitioners of the Quaker religion.

Pronunciation
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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, chapter 21, in Wyandotte:
      "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 October 4, “The Great Rebellion”, in 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
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