shotgun
UK /ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ · US /ˈʃɑtɡʌn/ noun, verb
Forms shotguns shotgunning shotgunned shot-gun
- noun (firearms) A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge. “The farmer's son brought home a Thanksgiving turkey from the wild that he killed with his shotgun.”
- noun (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. Can also be used in situations of claiming other resources such as bedrooms. “I call shotgun!”
- noun (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.”
- noun (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.
- noun Relating to shotguns, either in a present or past sense. “shotgun cartridges”
- noun Relating to the threat of force or dubious means. “shotgun wedding”
- noun Relating to the use of numerous, diverse or indiscriminate means to achieve a particular result. “shotgun marketing”
- verb (slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.
- verb (transitive, informal) To verbally lay claim to (something) “I got a day off because I shotgunned it.”
- verb (transitive, baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
- verb (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.
- verb (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.
- verb (computing, slang) To employ the technique of shotgun debugging.
Synonyms
Etymology
From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shotgun”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details