Cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. The word cannon is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane, or reed. The plural of cannon is also cannon, though more commonly in America, cannons. In the modern era, the term cannon has fallen out of common usage, replaced by "guns" or "artillery" if not a more specific term such as "mortar" or "howitzer". In aviation, cannon generally describes weapons firing bullets larger than 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) in diameter.

Read more about Cannon.

Famous quotes containing the word cannon:

    The cannon thunders ... limbs fly in all directions ... one can hear the groans of victims and the howling of those performing the sacrifice ... it’s Humanity in search of happiness.
    Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)

    Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!
    The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    We may say that feelings have two kinds of intensity. One is the intensity of the feeling itself, by which loud sounds are distinguished from faint ones, luminous colors from dark ones, highly chromatic colors from almost neutral tints, etc. The other is the intensity of consciousness that lays hold of the feeling, which makes the ticking of a watch actually heard infinitely more vivid than a cannon shot remembered to have been heard a few minutes ago.
    Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)