Definition of "breechloader" [breech•load•er]

• A gun or other firearm loaded at the breech. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He looked up into the implacable face of the Marquess of Stoneville and then lower to the barrel of a Manton breechloader aimed right at his head."
• "This is the British officer/gun designer who had a breechloader as early as the time of the American Revolution."
• "“The weapon is a most formidable one, it is admirably constructed, and equipped for service, and will, I doubt not, produce, if brought into action, effects almost as astonishing as those of the breechloader, and cause a general impatience to be possessed of the new arm.”"