shotgun

shot·gun

a smoothbore gun, usually used for firing a charge of shot at short range, as in hunting small game
Football an offensive formation, esp. for passing, in which the quarterback takes the snap while standing several yards behind the line of scrimmage
often shotgun formation

to shoot, force, or threaten with a shotgun

done or made under duress; specif., designating a wedding or marriage into which one or both partners are forced, as because of pregnancy
covering many points in a random, hit-or-miss way
designating a long, narrow house, apartment, etc. with rooms arranged one behind the other

shotgun Idioms

ride shotgun

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

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MLA Style

"shotgun." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/shotgun>.

APA Style

shotgun. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/shotgun

shotgun

noun

A smoothbore gun that fires shot over short ranges. Also called scattergun .
Football An offensive formation, used especially for passing, in which the quarterback receives the snap several yards behind the line of scrimmage.

adjective

Of, relating to, or using a shotgun.
Obtained by or involving coercion: a shotgun compromise.
Covering a wide range in a haphazard or ineffective manner: shotgun methods of testing the hypothesis that wasted time and money.
Having the rooms joined in a line from front to back: a shotgun house, a shotgun apartment

transitive verb

shot·gunned, shot·gun·ning, shot·guns

To shoot at with a shotgun.
To drink (a can of beer or other beverage) quickly through a hole punched near the bottom of the can.

interjection

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

Origin of shotgun

Adjective, from the fact that the shot from a shotgun fired through the front door could go out the back door without encountering any intervening obstacles 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

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"shotgun." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/shotgun>.

APA Style

shotgun. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/shotgun

Noun

(countable and uncountable, plural shotguns)

A gun which fires loads typically consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.
(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.)
(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.
(American football) A play formation in which the quarterback is a few feet behind the snapper when the ball is hiked, ideally allowing for an easier pass play.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present shotguns, present participle shotgunning, simple past and past participle shotgunned)

(slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else's mouth.
(informal) To verbally lay claim to (something)
I got a day off because I shotgunned it.
(baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
(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.

Adjective

(not comparable)