pompom

[ pom-pom ]

/ ˈpɒmˌpɒm /

an automatic antiaircraft cannon.

Origin of pompom

First recorded in 1895–1900; imitative

pompom ²

[ pom-pom ]

/ ˈpɒmˌpɒm /

Also pompon. an ornamental tuft or ball of feathers, wool, or the like, used on hats, slippers, etc.

pompon(def 3).

1740–50; variant of pompon, with assimilation of final n

In the afternoon one of our guns on Cæsar's Camp smashed a pompom.

From Capetown to Ladysmith |G. W. Steevens
A deputation of ladies had, meanwhile, presented the Duchess with a table-gong made of pompom shells mounted on a rhinoceros horn.

The Life of King Edward VII |J. Castell Hopkins
Boers began attack at daybreak with two or three guns and a pompom, shelling the position hard.

The Second Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the South African War |Cecil Francis Romer and Arthur Edward Mainwaring
This pompom was bravely served by one man, the remainder of the gun team having been either killed or wounded.

The Record of a Regiment of the Line |M. Jacson

The Turks directed a perfect tornado of rifle, Maxim, and pompom fire on 200 men who made a dash down the gangway.

New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915 |Various

pompom

/ (ˈpɒmpɒm) /

a ball of tufted silk, wool, feathers, etc, worn on a hat for decoration

the small globelike flower head of certain cultivated varieties of dahlia and chrysanthemum
(as modifier)pompom dahlia

C18: from French, from Old French pompe knot of ribbons, of uncertain origin