Definition of "blunderbuss" An old style of muzzleloading firearm and early form of shotgun with a distinctive short , large caliber barrel that is flared at the muzzle , therefore able to fire scattered quantities of nails , stones , shot , etc . at short range . quotations examples
Quotations We fired the blunderbuss several times by way of salute , and soon after landed at the bank near the village of the Mahahas , or Shoe Indians , and were received by a crowd of people , who came to welcome our return .
1817, Merriweather Lewis, William Clark, Travels to the Source of the Missouri River, and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, page 354
verb third-person singular simple present blunderbusses , present participle blunderbussing , simple past and past participle blunderbussed