Shotgun

/ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ · noun

Meaning

(firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge..

Definitions by Sense

1. (firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.
2. (slang) The front passenger seat in a vehicle, next to the driver; so called because the position of the shotgun-armed guard on a horse-drawn stage-coach, wagon train, or gold transport was next to the driver on a forward-mounted bench seat. Can also be used in situations of claiming other resources such as bedrooms.
3. (US, especially Southern US) A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line.
4. (American football) An offensive formation in which the quarterback receives the snap at a distance behind the center, often with a running back set to one or both sides of him.
5. Relating to shotguns, either in a present or past sense.
6. Relating to the threat of force or dubious means.
7. Relating to the use of numerous, diverse or indiscriminate means to achieve a particular result.
8. (slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.

Example Sentences

The farmer's son brought home a Thanksgiving turkey from the wild that he killed with his shotgun.

You can't talk to a man / With a shotgun in his hand

An unusual custom is followed at Llangennith, when shotguns are fired at a wedding - to scare off evil spirits from the newlyweds.

I call shotgun!

We rode our bikes to it this morning—me, two of my brothers, four other neighborhood kids who were ready to be baptized, plus my father and some other neighborhood adults riding shotgun.

Elvis Presley was born in a two-bedroom shotgun in Tupelo, Mississippi.

shotgun cartridges

shotgun seat

Synonyms for shotgun

Antonyms for shotgun

Related Words

Word Forms

• shotguns
• shot-gun
• shotgunning
• shotgunned

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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