warning shot

English

Noun

warning shot (plural warning shots)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A shot fired as a warning..
2. (figuratively, by extension) An action intended to act as a warning.
   • 2005, J. H. Snider, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power, page 487, →ISBN

     I believe that most members of Congress interpreted these ads as a warning shot rather than an effective grass roots mobilization tool.

Translations

shot fired

• German: Warnschuss (de) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

action intended as a warning

• German: Schuss vor den Bug m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}