Shotgun definition |Dictionary.com

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6 dictionary results for: Shotgun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

shot·gun

[shot-guhn] Pronunciation Key noun, adjective, verb, -gunned, -gun·ning.

–noun

1.	a smoothbore gun for firing small shot to kill birds and small quadrupeds, though often used with buckshot to kill larger animals.

2.	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

3.	of, pertaining to, used in, or carried out with a shotgun: a shotgun murder; shotgun pellets.

4.	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.

5.	seeking a desired result through the use or inclusion of a wide variety of elements.

6.	having all the rooms opening one into the next in a line from front to back: shotgun apartment; shotgun cottage.

7.	gained or characterized by coercive methods.

–verb (used with object)

8.	to fire a shotgun at.

—Idiom

ride shotgun,

a.	(formerly) to ride atop a stagecoach as a shotgun-bearing guard.

b.	to protect or keep a watchful eye on something: riding shotgun over the nation's economy.

[Origin: 1770–80, Americanism; shot¹ + gun¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shot·gun (shŏt'gŭn') Pronunciation Key
n.

A smoothbore gun that fires shot over short ranges. Also called scattergun.
Football An offensive formation, used especially for passing, in which the quarterback receives the snap several yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Southern U.S. A house whose architecture is characterized by several rooms joined in a straight line from the front to the back: "Shotguns [are] so named because a shotgun fired through the front door of these long, narrow homes could pass straight through the house and out the back door without hitting any barriers" (Melissa O. Fryauf). See Regional Note at beignet.

adj.

Of, relating to, or using a shotgun.
Obtained by or involving by coercion: a shotgun compromise.
Covering a wide range in a haphazard or ineffective manner: shotgun methods of testing the hypothesis that wasted time and money.

tr.v. shot·gunned, shot·gun·ning, shot·guns
To shoot at with a shotgun.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shotgun

1828, Amer.Eng., from shot in the sense of "lead in small pellets" (1770) + gun. As distinguished from a rifle, which fires bullets. Shotgun wedding first attested 1927, Amer.Eng.

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