or derringer -- A small, double-barreled handgun which can fire a single shot from each barrel before it needs to be reloaded. It is loaded by folding the barrels downward and away from the receiver, a process called "breaking the action open." The spent cases are then removed, and one fresh round is placed in the base of each barrel before the barrels are snapped shut again. The design was first produced by Henry Deringer, under the brand name Deringer. When used to refer to any other brand of the same design, derringer is spelled with two r's and is not capitalized.