See loose cannon in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for loose cannon meaning in English (7.4kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "loose cannons",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "loose cannon (plural loose cannons)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nautical",
"orig": "en:Nautical",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "33 34 33",
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{
"_dis": "26 38 36",
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}
],
"glosses": [
"A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, which has the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew."
],
"id": "en-loose_cannon-en-noun-lDP3mzTj",
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"battle",
"battle"
],
[
"storm",
"storm"
],
[
"damage",
"damage"
],
[
"ship",
"ship"
],
[
"crew",
"crew"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, which has the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew."
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
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{
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"_dis": "26 38 36",
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},
{
"_dis": "17 55 28",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Jack is considered a loose cannon due to his volatile personality and his track record of being unable to maintain his composure."
}
],
"glosses": [
"An uncontrolled or unpredictable person who causes damage to their own team, faction, political party, etc."
],
"id": "en-loose_cannon-en-noun-~nXeuJ3s",
"links": [
[
"uncontrolled",
"uncontrolled"
],
[
"unpredictable",
"unpredictable"
],
[
"team",
"team"
],
[
"faction",
"faction"
],
[
"political party",
"political party"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension) An uncontrolled or unpredictable person who causes damage to their own team, faction, political party, etc."
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "脱缰野马"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "neřízená střela"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "ongeleid projectiel"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "ennustamatu käitumisega inimene"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "kävelevä katastrofi"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "arvaamaton ihminen"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "électron libre"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "unberechenbarer Mensch"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "unkontrollierbarer Mensch"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "gemeingefährlicher Mensch"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "elszabadult hajóágyú"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "mina vagante"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "obezʹjána s granátoj",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "обезья́на с грана́той f /lit: monkey with a grenade/"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "bala perdida"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "serseri mayın"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-loose cannon.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg",
"tags": [
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],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "loose cannon"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "loose cannons",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoning",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoned",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoned",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "loose cannon (third-person singular simple present loose cannons, present participle loose cannoning, simple past and past participle loose cannoned)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "33 34 33",
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{
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"parents": [
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2006, Gerry McCusker, Public Relations Disasters: Talespin--Inside Stories and Lessons Learnt, page 179",
"text": "Gerald's loose cannoning triggered a volley of faithfully quoted media coverage which blasted a hole in his company's profits […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To behave in a way such as to cause damage to one's own faction, political party, etc."
],
"id": "en-loose_cannon-en-verb-rkWatPTI",
"links": [
[
"behave",
"behave"
],
[
"damage",
"damage"
],
[
"faction",
"faction"
],
[
"political party",
"political party"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To behave in a way such as to cause damage to one's own faction, political party, etc."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-loose cannon.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg",
"tags": [
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"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "loose cannon"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
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"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
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],
"forms": [
{
"form": "loose cannons",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "loose cannon (plural loose cannons)",
"name": "en-noun"
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],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"en:Nautical"
],
"glosses": [
"A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, which has the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew."
],
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
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[
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"storm"
],
[
"damage",
"damage"
],
[
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],
[
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"crew"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, which has the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew."
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Jack is considered a loose cannon due to his volatile personality and his track record of being unable to maintain his composure."
}
],
"glosses": [
"An uncontrolled or unpredictable person who causes damage to their own team, faction, political party, etc."
],
"links": [
[
"uncontrolled",
"uncontrolled"
],
[
"unpredictable",
"unpredictable"
],
[
"team",
"team"
],
[
"faction",
"faction"
],
[
"political party",
"political party"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, by extension) An uncontrolled or unpredictable person who causes damage to their own team, faction, political party, etc."
],
"tags": [
"broadly",
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg",
"tags": [
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"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "脱缰野马"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "neřízená střela"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "ongeleid projectiel"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "ennustamatu käitumisega inimene"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "kävelevä katastrofi"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "arvaamaton ihminen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "électron libre"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "unberechenbarer Mensch"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "unkontrollierbarer Mensch"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "gemeingefährlicher Mensch"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "elszabadult hajóágyú"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "mina vagante"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "obezʹjána s granátoj",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "обезья́на с грана́той f /lit: monkey with a grenade/"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "bala perdida"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "unpredictable person",
"word": "serseri mayın"
}
],
"word": "loose cannon"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
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"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
"en:People"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "loose cannons",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoning",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoned",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "loose cannoned",
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}
],
"head_templates": [
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
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{
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{
"ref": "2006, Gerry McCusker, Public Relations Disasters: Talespin--Inside Stories and Lessons Learnt, page 179",
"text": "Gerald's loose cannoning triggered a volley of faithfully quoted media coverage which blasted a hole in his company's profits […]",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
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"To behave in a way such as to cause damage to one's own faction, political party, etc."
],
"links": [
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"behave",
"behave"
],
[
"damage",
"damage"
],
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"faction"
],
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"political party",
"political party"
]
],
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"(idiomatic) To behave in a way such as to cause damage to one's own faction, political party, etc."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/En-au-loose_cannon.ogg",
"tags": [
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"text": "Audio (AU)"
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],
"word": "loose cannon"
}
{
"called_from": "translations/611",
"msg": "suspicious translation with ': ': {'lang': 'Russian', 'code': 'ru', 'sense': 'unpredictable person', 'roman': 'obezʹjána s granátoj', 'word': 'обезья́на с грана́той f /lit: monkey with a grenade/'}",
"path": [
"loose cannon"
],
"section": "English",
"subsection": "noun",
"title": "loose cannon",
"trace": ""
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.