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Gatling gun (n.)

1864, named for its designer, U.S. inventor Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903); patented by 1862 but not used in American Civil War until the Petersburg campaign of June 1864 as an independent initiative by U.S. Gen. Ben Butler.

For the first time in this war, the Gatling gun was used by Butler in repelling one of Beauregard's midnight attacks. Dispatches state that it was very destructive, and rebel prisoners were very curious to know whether it was loaded all night and fired all day. [Scientific American, June 18, 1864]

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Definitions of Gatling gun from WordNet

Gatling gun (n.)
an early form of machine gun having several barrels that fire in sequence as they are rotated;
From wordnet.princeton.edu

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