shoot from the hip en · VERB
Meanings
-
(literally) To discharge a firearm while it is held near the hip, without taking time to aim via the gunsights.
“As to their rifle fire, it was useless.” “They shoot from the hip, and don’t seem to aim at anything in particular.”
1914, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The German War”, in The Contemptible Little Army:
-
(figuratively) To speak or act quickly based on first impressions, without carefully studying the background information, wider context, etc.
Trump is shooting from the hip, spraying insults 360 degrees, telling lies, stoking fears and making threats that many in our military and the F.B.I. would refuse to implement.
2016 June 15, Thomas L. Friedman, “Opinion: Lessons of Hiroshima and Orlando”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 May 2018:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shot from the hip | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| shot from the hip | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| shooting from the hip | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| shoots from the hip | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Coordinates
shoot one's mouth off · talk out of one's ass
Deriveds
the hip · hip-shooting · hipfire · hip-shooter
Relateds
shoot first and ask questions later · fanning · gunplay · trigger-happy · hipshot
Synonyms
shoot from the lip (figuratively: speak quickly based on first impressions)
Translations (11)
fi ampua lonkalta (discharge a firearm) · sv skjuta från höften (speak or act quickly) · ru стрелять от бедра (discharge a firearm) · de aus der Hüfte feuern (discharge a firearm) · de aus der Hüfte schießen (discharge a firearm) · de aus der Hüfte schießen (speak or act quickly) · fi heittää lonkalta (speak or act quickly) · pl gadać co ślina na język przyniesie (speak or act quickly) · ru импровизировать (speak or act quickly) · sv skjuta från höften (discharge a firearm) · sv höfta (speak or act quickly)