Dictionary

shotgun en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈʃʰɒtɡʌn] (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈʃʰɔtɡɐ̞n] (Australia)
• audio
• /ˈʃɔtɡɐ̞n/ (Australia)
• /ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈʃɑːʔɡə̃] African-American Vernacular
• [ˈʃʰɑtɡʌn] (General-American)
• /ˈʃɑtɡʌn/ (General-American)

Etymology

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) 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.
   • An unusual custom is followed at Llangennith, when shotguns are fired at a wedding - to scare off evil spirits from the newlyweds. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 258:
   • You can't talk to a man / With a shotgun in his hand 1971, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, “Smackwater Jack”, in Tapestry, Ode Records:
2. (countable, slang, uncountable) 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.
   • We rode our bikes to it this morning—me, two of my brothers, four other neighborhood kids who were ready to be baptized, plus my father and some other neighborhood adults riding shotgun. 1993, Octavia Butler, chapter 2, in The Parable of the Sower:
   • I call shotgun!
   • I call shotgun!
3. (Southern-US, US, countable, especially, uncountable) 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.
4. (countable, uncountable) 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.
5. (as a modifier, attributive, countable, uncountable) Relating to shotguns, either in a present or past sense.
   • shotgun cartridges
   • shotgun seat
6. (as a modifier, attributive, countable, uncountable) Relating to the threat of force or dubious means.
   • shotgun diplomacy
   • shotgun wedding
7. (as a modifier, attributive, countable, uncountable) Relating to the use of numerous, diverse or indiscriminate means to achieve a particular result.
   • shotgun marketing
   • shotgun approach

Forms

Coordinates

pistol · rifle · gat · firearm · gun · piece · pellet gun · handgun · iron

Deriveds

shotgun cloning · shotgun fungus · sawed-off shotgun · shotgunner · shotgun debugging · double-barrelled shotgun · shotgun shack · pump-action shotgun · shotgun sequencing · shotgun microphone · shotgun mic · shotgun surgery · shotgun marriage · shotgun double · shotty · sawn-off shotgun · shotgun wedding · shotgunlike · ride shotgun · shotgun offense · shotgun proteomics · shotgun pleading · shotgun approach · shotgun start

Descendants

sot gan · ショットガン · σότγκαν · 샷건 · 散弾銃

Hypernyms

firearm · weapon · ranged weapon · long gun · gun · longarm

Synonyms

scattergun · shotgun shack · death seat · shotgun house

Translations (97)

mt senter (gun) · ba алдағы урын (front seat next to driver) · chr ᎤᏒᏕᎾ (gun) · cmn 獵槍 /猎枪 (gun) · it spingarda (gun) · tr çifte (gun) · cmn 散彈槍 /散弹枪 (gun) · uk рушни́ця (gun) · sh sačmarica (gun) · hu vadászpuska (gun) · sh сачмарица (gun) · mi pūhōta (gun) · fi vänskärin paikka (front seat next to driver) · pdt Schrootflint (gun) · fr fusil (gun) · it sidecar (front seat next to driver) · pt caçadeira (gun) · lv bise (gun) · sh сачмара (gun) · bg предна седалка f в кола (front seat next to driver) · is framsæti (front seat next to driver) · tr av tüfeği (gun) · ka გლუვლულიანი თოფი (gun) · ru дробови́к (gun) · sl šibrovka (gun) · ca escopeta (gun) · azg ndoꞌchon nuan (gun) · sk brokovnica (gun) · ko 산탄총 (gun) · ja 散弾銃 (gun) · da haglbøsse (gun) · is framhlaðningur (front seat next to driver) · el σότγκαν (gun) · hu anyósülés (front seat next to driver) · mk са́чмарка (gun) · az ov tüfəngi (gun) · sl šibrenica (gun) · fr place du mort (front seat next to driver) · bg пу́шка (gun) · fi haulikko (gun) · ota آو تفنكی (gun) · ccc shipotos̈hka's̈ho'lochi (gun) · ro pușcă de vânătoare (gun) · ja 霰弾銃 (gun) · pt escopeta (gun) · pt banco do carona (front seat next to driver) · sv hagelgevär (gun) · it sedile passeggero anteriore (front seat next to driver) · pl siedzenie pasażera (front seat next to driver) · ota چیفته (gun) · it fucile a canna liscia (gun) · af haelgeweer (gun) · be стрэ́льба (gun) · ru ружьё (gun) · es escopeta (gun) · it fucile da caccia (gun) · ja ショットガン (gun) · fi pelkääjän paikka (front seat next to driver) · ms senapang patah (gun) · acw شوزن (gun) · ga gránghunna (gun) · cs brokovnice (gun) · de Flinte (gun) · no hagle (gun) · nl jachtgeweer (gun) · de Beifahrersitz (front seat next to driver) · it carabina (gun) · nl hagelgeweer (gun) · bg ловджийска пу́шка (gun) · ga gunna gráin (gun) · tl eskopeta (gun) · xal хавал (gun) · it doppietta (gun) · fr fusil de chasse (gun) · mi pūhoata (gun) · io glata fusilo (gun) · id senapan gentel (gun) · pt espingarda (gun) · it schioppo (gun) · gl escopeta (gun) · sv framsäte (front seat next to driver) · th ปืนลูกซอง (gun) · ba алғы урын (front seat next to driver) · hu utasülés (front seat next to driver) · fi matkustajan etupenkki (front seat next to driver) · cmn 霰彈槍 /霰弹枪 (gun) · pt banco da frente (front seat next to driver) · ast escopeta (gun) · nl buks (gun) · ru сиде́нье (front seat next to driver) · de Schrotflinte (gun) · ko 샷건 (gun) · tpi sot gan (gun) · is haglabyssa (gun) · acw بُنْدُقِيّة (gun) · sh sačmara (gun) · pl strzelba (gun)

wikidata: Q486396

shotgun en · VERB

Pronunciation

• [ˈʃʰɒtɡʌn] (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈʃʰɔtɡɐ̞n] (Australia)
• audio
• /ˈʃɔtɡɐ̞n/ (Australia)
• /ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [ˈʃɑːʔɡə̃] African-American Vernacular
• [ˈʃʰɑtɡʌn] (General-American)
• /ˈʃɑtɡʌn/ (General-American)

Etymology

From shot + gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Meanings

1. (slang) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.
   • High as fuck, I light it up / Got pre-rolls for the whole month / She don't smoke but when I roll one / We shotgun the whole blunt 2017, “Super Potent”, in Renaissance, performed by The Underachievers:
2. (informal, transitive) To verbally lay claim to (something)
   • I got a day off because I shotgunned it.
3. (transitive) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
4. (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.
5. (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.
   • It's like they are on a generic mailing list and some photographer is just shotgunning cards out into the world with no thought as to who they are actually going to. 2013, Zack Arias, Photography Q&A: Real Questions, Real Answers, page 197:
   • An actual physical piece of paper shows that you're not just shotgunning out queries to every agent on the planet. 2009, Writing Fiction For Dummies, →ISBN:
   • Science fiction writers are “shotgunning ideas” through their works, he said, and people tend to recall the pellets that hit the target. 2011 December 6, John Schwartz, “Out of a Writer’s Imagination Came an Interactive World”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
6. (slang) To employ the technique of shotgun debugging.
   • Understand the problem before fixing it. About the only scenario where shotgunning is useful is if there is a shorted IC and you cannot tell which one it is. 1998, Stuart Ball, Debugging Embedded Microprocessor Systems, page 71:

Forms