birdshot en · NOUN
Etymology
From bird + shot.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Small lead or steel shot, as pieces of ammunition, used in shotgun shells.
“Eyes were hit by birdshot pellets and it was deliberate, they are shooting to kill,” said the Tehran doctor. A colleague added that they had removed “20 pellets” from the body of a single protester.
2026 January 13, Deepa Parent, William Christou, “Hundreds of gunshot eye injuries found in one Iranian hospital amid brutal crackdown on protests”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:In the first shooting, four of the teenagers were sitting on a porch and were peppered with birdshot from a shotgun fired from a passing car around 2:30 p.m., Sheriff John Rutherford said.
2007 May 2, “Florida Six Wounded in Shootings”, in New York Times, sourced from The Associated Press:
- (countable, uncountable) A rifle or pistol cartridge containing small shot instead of a single larger projectile.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| birdshots | Number=Plur | lexicographic |