shotgun

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See also: shot-gun

English

A shotgun formation.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From shot +‎ gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio (AU):(file)
  • Hyphenation: shot‧gun

Noun

shotgun (countable and uncountable, plural shotguns)

  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.
    I call shotgun! (I claim the right to sit in the passenger seat.)
  3. (US, especially Southern US) A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line.
    Elvis Presley was born in a two-bedroom shotgun in Tupelo, Mississippi.
  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. (attributive, as a modifier) Relating to shotguns, either in a present or past sense: e.g. shotgun cartridges, shotgun seat.
  6. (attributive, as a modifier) Relating to the threat of force or dubious means: e.g. shotgun wedding, shotgun diplomacy.
  7. (attributive, as a modifier) Relating to the use of numerous, diverse or indiscriminate means to achieve a particular result: e.g. shotgun marketing, a shotgun approach.

Synonyms

  • (gun which fires loads of small metal balls): scattergun

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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  1. (slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.
  2. (transitive, informal) To verbally lay claim to (something)
    I got a day off because I shotgunned it.
  3. (transitive, baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
  4. (US, slang) To rapidly drink a beverage from a can by making a hole in the bottom of the can, placing the hole above one's mouth, and opening the top.
  5. (US, slang) To send out many (requests, answers to a question, etc), especially in the hope that one obtains a positive result (i.e. reveals useful information, is correct, etc), in the manner of a shotgun firing many balls of shot such that one may hit a target.
    • 2009, Writing Fiction For Dummies →ISBN:
      An actual physical piece of paper shows that you're not just shotgunning out queries to every agent on the planet.
    • 2013, Zack Arias, Photography Q&A: Real Questions, Real Answers, page 197:
      It's like they are on a generic mailing list and some photographer is just shotgunning cards out into the world with no thought as to who they are actually going to.

Anagrams

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