Word.ws English Dictionary

loose cannons

loose cannons is the plural of loose cannon.

loose cannons is the third-person singular simple present indicative of loose cannon.

Meaning of loose cannon

Noun

loose cannon (plural loose cannons)

  1. A cannon that breaks loose from its moorings on a ship during battle or storm, with the potential to cause serious damage to the ship and her crew.
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) An uncontrolled or unpredictable person, especially considered liable to cause unintentional or indiscriminate damage.
    • Jack is considered a loose cannon due to his volatile personality and his track record of being unable to maintain his composure.

See all 3 meanings of loose cannon

Questions about loose cannons

What is loose cannons the plural of?
Loose cannons is the plural of loose cannon.

Words near loose cannons in the dictionary

  1. loose box
  2. loose boxes
  3. loose cannon
  4. loose cannoned
  5. loose cannoning
  6. loose cannons
  7. loose change
  8. loose connection
  9. loose connections
  10. loose construction
  11. loose constructionism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: loose cannons (page history and authors); loose cannon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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