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• Annie Oakley
  Annie Oakley

  noun

  a free ticket, as to a theater; pass.
• Oakley, Annie
  Oakley, Annie

  A performer in Wild West shows around the turn of the twentieth century, famous for her marksmanship. In one of her acts, she would flip a playing card into the air and then perforate it with bullets before it hit the ground. The musical Annie Get Your Gun is loosely based on her experiences.

Annie Oakley

American  

[ohk-lee] / ˈoʊk li /

noun

1. a free ticket, as to a theater; pass.

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Oakley, Annie Cultural  

1. A performer in Wild West shows around the turn of the twentieth century, famous for her marksmanship. In one of her acts, she would flip a playing card into the air and then perforate it with bullets before it hit the ground. The musical Annie Get Your Gun is loosely based on her experiences.

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Etymology

Origin of Annie Oakley

Allegedly so called because such tickets, punched to prevent resale, resembled the playing cards used as targets by Annie Oakley

Example Sentences

When Americans conjure their pantheon of gun-culture heroes, they evoke industrialists like Samuel Colt, inventors like John Moses Browning, and gunslingers like Annie Oakley.

From Slate • May 25, 2025

Kelly’s beloved dog, an elderly, Pomeranian-long haired Chihuahua mix named Annie Oakley, bounded down the carpeted staircase and wriggled across the linoleum kitchen floor, wagging her tail for attention.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 11, 2023

"We would often get visits from Terry when he was in the navy," said Terry's cousin Annie Oakley, who now lives in Australia.

From BBC • Jul. 3, 2022

Annie Get Your Gun A mini-marathon of classic American musicals includes this 1950 adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Broadway hit about Wild West show sharpshooter Annie Oakley.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2017

Annie Oakley came next, blasting away at an array of impossible targets.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson