cannon

KAN-uhn

meaning in plain English

A big, heavy gun that shoots large metal balls or explosive shells, usually mounted on wheels or a stand.

Picture a giant metal barrel—cannon—blasting big round balls like fireworks at a fair.

for example

The soldiers rolled the heavy cannon into position to fire at the enemy fort.

Imagine a pirate ship’s deck with a massive metal tube on wheels, loaded with gunpowder and a giant ball. That’s a cannon—it’s the kind of weapon that makes a huge boom when it fires, and it’s way too big to carry by hand. Why do we even need something like this? Because sometimes you need to blast through walls or scare off attackers from far away.