evening gun

English

Noun

evening gun (plural evening guns)

1. (military) The firing of a gun after the last note of the retreat, signalling the lowering of the flag at sunset; the gun thus fired.
   • 1897, William James, Is Life Worth Living in The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy,

     That life is not worth living the whole army of suicides declare,—an army whose roll-call, like the famous evening gun of the British army, follows the sun round the world and never terminates.

See also

• morning gun

Synonyms

• retreat gun