Dictionary

warning shot en · NOUN

Meanings

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A shot fired as a warning.
   • […] As it happened, she did. The complete absence of heavenly bodies in the Nevermeant had given her no end of time to spend on other esoteric subjects. The Black Lord recited what it saw, and when it was done, the astronomer recited the message back. "CHANGE YOUR WAYS. THIS IS A WARNING SHOT." A beam of intense energy arced from the aperture, which vanished in the instant before a glowing red hole was punched through the Black Lord's forehead. It fell to the observatory tiles, bleeding black blood and melted porcelain, gurgling softly. 2021 July 1, Placeholder McD, HarryBlank, “SCP-6500 [offset 13]”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2023, The Shrouded Mirador:
2. (broadly, figuratively) An action intended to act as a warning.
   • I believe that most members of Congress interpreted these ads as a warning shot rather than an effective grass roots mobilization tool. 2005, J. H. Snider, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power, →ISBN, page 487:

Forms

Synonyms

shot across the bow · shot across the bows

Translations (19)

fi varoituslaukaus (action intended as a warning) · de Warnschuss (shot fired) · es disparo advertidor (shot fired) · it colpo di avvertimento (shot fired) · bg предупредителен изстрел (shot fired) · de Schuss vor den Bug (action intended as a warning) · pl strzał ostrzegawczy (shot fired) · tr uyarı atışı (shot fired) · es disparo advirtiente (shot fired) · tr uyarı ateşi (shot fired) · fr coup de semonce (shot fired) · fr coup de semonce (action intended as a warning) · nl waarschuwingsschot (shot fired) · fr tir de sommation (shot fired) · fi varoituslaukaus (shot fired) · pl ostrzeżenie (action intended as a warning) · sv varningsskott (action intended as a warning) · sv varningsskott (shot fired) · fr tir de semonce (shot fired)