| 1. | a covert, unsportsmanlike, and illegal act of deliberate roughness, esp. in football, often calculated to injure an opponent. |
| 2. | any mean or unsportsmanlike remark or action, esp. one directed at a defenseless or vulnerable person. |
| cheap shot n. An unfair or unsporting verbal attack on a vulnerable target. |
cheap shot
An unfair or unsporting verbal attack, as in You called him an amateur? That's really taking a cheap shot. The term originated in sports, especially American football, where it signifies deliberate roughness against an unprepared opponent. [Slang; second half of 1900s]