air gun

/ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/

//ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn// noun

"air-gun" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“air gun” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A gun that propels a projectile by compressed air or similar compressed gas (such as carbon dioxide).

Key facts for air gun
PropertyValue
Headwordair gun
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “air gun” sits in English frequency

air gun falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

air gun is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A gun that propels a projectile by compressed air or similar compressed gas (such as carbon dioxide).".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for air gun, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is air gun, spelled A-I-R- -G-U-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gun that propels a projectile by compressed air or similar compressed gas (such as carbon dioxide).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "air gun"?
"air gun" is spelled A-I-R- -G-U-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/.
What does "air gun" mean?
As a noun, "air gun" means: A gun that propels a projectile by compressed air or similar compressed gas (such as carbon dioxide).
How do you pronounce "air gun"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "air gun" is /ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "air gun" come from?
"air gun" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “air gun”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is A-I-R- -G-U-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈeə(ɹ).ɡʌn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list