laser gun n.
a weapon that fires a laser
The 1961 quote refers to an actual laser, not a weapon.
Weaponry
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[1961 Business Week 30 Dec. 46/2 (heading)
Laser gun shoots light rays.]
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1963
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Roger Zelazny
bibliography
He caressed a laser-gun the size of an automatic pencil, then slipped it into his breast pocket.
Nine Starships Waiting in Fantastic Mar. 100/2 -
1964 Madera Daily Tribune 10 Feb. 6/5
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The Outer Limits has a good show in ‘The Bellero Shield’, an examination of an all-consuming ambition. Sally Kellerman wants scientist-husband Martin Landau to have a place in history. When she accidentally releases a Creature from another world by means of her husband’s laser gun, she sees her chance. However, a wealthy father-in-law who doesn’t like her is more of a hindrance than the Creature’s basic distrust of her.
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1964
Gene Roddenberry
bibliography
He slowly draws his Laser gun, adjusts the setting on it.
Cage 29 June in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ (1968) iv. 63
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1972
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Stephen Tall
bibliography
She was dressed for the field, equipped with zoom binoculars, magnaflash and laser gun swinging from her belt.
Gods on Olympus in Worlds of If Oct. 37/2 -
1985
Orson Scott Card
bibliography
A lasergun, it looked like, since the end was solid, clear glass.
Ender’s Game v. 41
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2002
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Jack Williamson
bibliography
He raised the captured laser gun, shaking in his clammy hands, and found the firing button. Its scarlet flash stabbed the dish.
Luck of the Legion in Absolute Magnitude Summer–Fall 21/1 -
2011
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Brenda Cooper
bibliography
He handed me a long slender rod with a firing pin on the outside. The laser gun felt heavier than I remembered, harder to manage.
Cracking the Sky in Cracking the Sky (2015) 281
Research requirements
antedating 1963
Earliest cite
Roger Zelazny, in Fantastic
Research History
Simon Koppel submitted a 1964 cite in reference to an episode of The Outer Limits.
Last modified 2023-10-12 15:16:20
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.