Saturday-night special

[sat-er-dey-nahyt, -dee-]

noun

Informal.

1. a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.

Saturday night special

noun

1. informal,  a small handgun that is cheap and easy to buy

Word History and Origins

Origin of Saturday-night special¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

It looked like a Saturday-night special.

Read more on New York Times

“Probably came from a Saturday-night special.”

Read more on The New Yorker

Last year, a state court threw out a lawsuit by Daniel Williams, of Buffalo, who, as a high school junior, was mistaken for a gang member and shot by a Saturday-night special — a Hi-Point 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, manufactured by the thousands by Beemiller Inc. of Ohio.

Read more on New York Times

She went into her bedroom, and I figured she was going to emerge with my father’s Saturday-night special, the one thing of his that she’d kept when he left.

Read more on The New Yorker

Assault weapons and "Saturday-night special" bans hailed as the toughest in the nation?

Read more on Time Magazine Archive