Shotgun Definition

shŏtgŭn

shotguns

noun

shotguns

A smoothbore gun, usually used for firing a charge of shot at short range, as in hunting small game.

Webster's New World

An offensive formation, esp. for passing, in which the quarterback takes the snap while standing several yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Webster's New World

(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.)

Wiktionary

(US) A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line. Mostly heard in the southern United States.

Elvis Presley was born in a two-bedroom shotgun in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
scattergun

adjective

Done or made under duress; specif., designating a wedding or marriage into which one or both partners are forced, as because of pregnancy.

Webster's New World

Of, relating to, or using a shotgun.

American Heritage

Obtained by or involving coercion.

A shotgun compromise.

American Heritage

Covering many points in a random, hit-or-miss way.

Webster's New World

Designating a long, narrow house, apartment, etc. with rooms arranged one behind the other.

Webster's New World

verb

shotguns

To shoot, force, or threaten with a shotgun.

Webster's New World

(slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else's mouth.

Wiktionary

(informal) To verbally lay claim to (something)

I got a day off because I shotgunned it.

Wiktionary

(baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.

Wiktionary

(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.

Wiktionary

interjection

Used to claim the front passenger seat of a vehicle before a trip has started.

American Heritage

idiom

ride shotgun

To sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle during a trip.

American Heritage

ride shotgun

in the W U.S., to go along as an armed guard, esp. with the driver of a stagecoach
to ride in the front passenger seat of a motor vehicle

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Shotgun

Noun

Singular:

shotgun

Plural:

shotguns

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Shotgun

Origin of Shotgun

Interj. and idiom, probably from shotgun messenger a private armed guard who protected strongboxes and other valuable shipments on stagecoaches and rode in the seat next to the driver

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From shot +"Ž gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

From Wiktionary