Hand rifles are generally not considered to be guns, and the appropriate term to describe one is rifleman (which is gender non-specific, -man is used for men and women alike.)
Heavier rifles which are intended to be used against anything more than a single person can be freely called guns, and the operator can be called a gunner. This can include .50 caliber or greater anti-materiel rifles; recoilless rifles; or some assault rifles.
An air gunner operates any of a range of flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or cannons used in an aircraft.
Machine guns are typically manned by machinegunners rather than gunners, or they are often referred to by their weapon, i.e. the first machinegunner in a section might be called #1LMG (Light Machine Gun,) the platoon machine gunner might be called 1GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun,) but these only apply when they are currently carrying the weapon. E.g., if a light machine gunner hands off his weapon to join a reconnaissance (recce) party, than the person who takes his weapon would then be called #LMG.
In the U.S. Marine Corps, a Chief Warrant Officer serving in the Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) 0306 "Infantry Weapons Officer" is given the special title "Marine Gunner". The term gunner in informal speech) is also commonly used to refer to or address a warrant officer regardless of rank or technical speciality. It is usually considered inappropriate to use the term in formal situations, or where there is a lack of rapport or familiarity with those dealing with a warrant officer. This should not be confused with the informal term Gunny, an abbreviation which only refers to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant, Grade E-7, a Non-Commissioned Officer ranking immediately above a Staff Sergeant and below a First Sergeant or Master Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.
The word has also several uses in non-military contexts.
A gunner, especially in medical schools, dental schools, law schools, and other professional schools, is a person who is competitive, and overly-ambitious. Often, gunners sit in the front row of a lecture hall, from where they continually and enthusiastically "shoot" questions (as if through a gun) at the professor. A gunner will compromise peer relationships in order to obtain recognition and praise from instructors and superiors.
Gunner is also the name of a cocktail enjoyed by Britishexpats in Hong Kong and other parts of the Far East and India. It consists of equal parts ginger ale and ginger beer with a dash of Angostura bitters. It is regarded as a non-alcoholic drink, although Angostura bitters is 44.7% alcohol by volume. It is famed for its refreshing qualities and is drunk in large quantities in the summer.
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