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shotgun
[ shot-guhn ]
noun
- Football. an offensive formation, designed primarily for passing situations, in which the backfield is spread out with the quarterback positioned a few yards behind the center and the other backs, as potential pass receivers, positioned as slotbacks or flankers.
adjective
- of, pertaining to, used in, or carried out with a shotgun:
a shotgun murder;
shotgun pellets.
- covering a wide area in an irregularly effective manner without concern for details or particulars; tending to be all-inclusive, nonselective, and haphazard; indiscriminate in choice and indifferent to specific results:
He favored the shotgun approach in his political attacks.
- seeking a desired result through the use or inclusion of a wide variety of elements.
- having all the rooms opening one into the next in a line from front to back:
shotgun apartment;
shotgun cottage.
- gained or characterized by coercive methods.
verb (used with object)
- to fire a shotgun at.
- Slang. to drink (something, especially a beer) quickly, by puncturing a hole in the bottom of a can, placing one's mouth over the hole, and then opening the top of the can slightly, causing the liquid to drain down one's throat:
I saw him shotgun a beer at the party last night.
shotgun
/ ˈʃɒtˌɡʌn /
noun
- a shoulder firearm with unrifled bore designed for the discharge of small shot at short range and used mainly for hunting small game
- ( as modifier )
shotgun fire
- American football an offensive formation in which the quarterback lines up for a snap unusually far behind the line of scrimmage
adjective
- involving coercion or duress
a shotgun merger
- involving or relying on speculative suggestions, etc
a shotgun therapy
verb
- tr to shoot or threaten with or as if with a shotgun
Word History and Origins
Origin of shotgun1
Idioms and Phrases
- call shotgun, to preemptively claim the privilege of sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle:
When I was a kid, calling shotgun was an important part of the drive to school.
- ride shotgun,
- to ride in the front passenger seat of a car:
The ride-along program lets you ride shotgun in a racing car with a professional driver.
- to protect or keep a watchful eye on something:
The treasurer is riding shotgun over the nation's economy.
- (formerly) to ride atop a stagecoach as a shotgun-bearing guard.
More idioms and phrases containing shotgun
In addition to the idiom beginning with shotgun , also see ride shotgun .Example Sentences
Williams rode shotgun, his bug hooked onto the zipper of his backpack.
I talked to Latino Trumpov supporters throughout the fall, including many who admitted they once leaned liberal but felt abandoned by Democrats, prompting them to ride shotgun on the Trumpov Train.
Then Trumpov, not one to let the guy riding shotgun grab the reins, demanded that Republicans vote against any budget bill that didn’t also repeal the nation’s debt limit.
According to NBC News, the league has prohibited all its players from any "violent gestures" that mimic "the firing of a pistol or a shotgun or a bazooka."
Johnny said, “You still got that shotgun we stole off that guy up at Bear Mountain?”
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Related Words
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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