shooting iron


nounInformal.
  1. a firearm, especially a pistol or revolver.

Origin of shooting iron

1
An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Words Nearby shooting iron

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shooting iron in a sentence

  • But if you'll take your hand off me and put down that shooting-iron, I'll help you hunt it, if there is one.

  • The only effective shooting-iron in camp was his six-shooter and, with this he was thoroughly master of the situation.

    The Snow-Burner | Henry Oyen
  • "Put up your shooting iron, Mr. Melville," said Col. Warner, exhibiting a slight shade of annoyance.

    Do and Dare | Horatio Alger, Jr.
  • "Not this time," I said, as I got the drop on them with my new shooting-iron; and I marched the ruffians into town.

    On a Donkey's Hurricane Deck | R. Pitcher Woodward
  • In each pair one was to carry the light, while the other managed the ‘shooting iron.’

    The Hunters' Feast | Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for shooting iron

shooting iron

noun
  1. US slang a firearm, esp a pistol

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012