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ride shotgun
Slang Dictionary

ride shotgun definition


  1. tv.
    to accompany and guard someone or something. (A term derived from the imagery of stagecoaches and their armed guards via Western movies. See also shotgun.) : I have to take the beer over to the party. Why don't you come along and ride shotgun?
  2. tv.
    to ride in the passenger seat of a car, next to the driver. : I want to ride shotgun so I don't have to sit back there with those guys.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

ride shotgun

Guard someone or something while in transit, as in The reporter found himself in the odd position of riding shotgun for an accused mobster. This term alludes to the armed defender of a stagecoach who sat beside the driver to protect against marauders and bandits. Later it was transferred to anyone riding in the front passenger seat of a motor vehicle, as well as to the more general function of protection. [Mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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