[f. the name of the inventor, C. W. Lancaster (died 1878).] In full Lancaster gun, rifle, the name of a cannon and rifle (respectively) having a slightly oval bore.
1857. G. A. Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, iv. 49. Guy’s great Lancaster rang out with the roar of a small field-piece.
1858. Greener, Gunnery, 121. Wrought iron shells have already been thoroughly tried in the Lancaster oval gun.
1860. All Year Round, No. 73. 545. As for the Lancaster guns, how they burst!
