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potshot

 - 4 dictionary results

pot⋅shot

  [pot-shot] noun, verb, -shot or -shot⋅ted, -shot⋅ting.
Use potshot in a Sentence
–noun
1. a shot fired at game merely for food, with little regard to skill or the rules of sport.
2. a shot at an animal or person within easy range, as from ambush.
3. a casual or aimless shot.
4. a random or incidental criticism: to take a potshot at military spending in a speech on taxation.
–verb (used without object)
5. to fire or aim potshots: critics potshotting at the administration.
Origin:
1855–60; pot 1 + shot 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To potshot
pot·shot also pot shot   (pŏt'shŏt')   
n.  

  1. A random or easy shot.

  2. A criticism made without careful thought and aimed at a handy target for attack: reporters taking potshots at the mayor.


[So called because such a shot is fired by a hunter whose main purpose is to get food for the pot.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
potshot

  1. n.
    a sharp criticism; a wild shot of criticism. (Usually with take.) : Please stop taking potshots at me!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

potshot 
1858, "shot taken at animal simply to kill for food," in other words, to get it in the pot, not for sporting or marksmanship. Extended sense of "opportunistic criticism" first recorded 1926.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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