1. a small, short-barreled handgun, typically easily concealed
Usage: also spelled 'derringer'; named after Henry Deringer, a 19th-century gunsmith

Examples

• The detective discovered a deringer hidden in the suspect's jacket pocket.
• In the Old West, gamblers often carried a deringer as a backup weapon.
• The museum displayed a collection of antique deringers from the 1800s.
• She kept a small deringer in her purse for protection.
• The character in the noir film pulled out a deringer during the tense confrontation.