An Uzi is a small Israeli submachine gun — short, boxy, and famous for being easy to carry and to fire with one hand. It was designed in the late 1940s and became one of the most widely sold guns of its kind, used by armies, police and bodyguards for decades. In everyday English, though, most people meet the word through films, television and rap lyrics rather than real life, and it has drifted: many speakers now say "Uzi" loosely for any small machine gun, the way people say "Jeep" for any tough four-wheel-drive or "Hoover" for any vacuum cleaner. Gun people find that annoying and will correct you. It is a brand name, so it takes a capital U — you will also see the trademark styled UZI — and the plural is "Uzis." It is said OO-zee. Because of the film associations, the word carries a strong flavour of crime and violence; using it in a joke or a school essay lands differently from using a neutral word like "rifle," so choose it knowingly.