taser

Etymology

Acronym of Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle. Coined in the early 1970s by inventor Jack Cover, after the fictional character created by Edward Stratemeyer in 1910 and especially the volume Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (1911). Genericization of the trademark Taser.

noun

1. A Taser, a handheld device made by Taser International intended to immobilize another by delivering an electric shock.
2. (by extension) Any electroshock stun gun.

verb

1. To shock a person, thing, individual, or animal with a handheld device with the electric shock that it delivers; to stun with a stun gun.
2. (figurative) To strike verbally or gesturally with ill intents.
   As I spoke too loudly during the solemn church service, my husband shot me a glance that emotionally tasered me to the point of silence until we returned home 2 hours later.