Saturday-night special
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Saturday-night special
First recorded in 1965–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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.
From New York Times
The TracFone is sort of a cellular "Saturday-night special": pony up $99 and walk away with a cheap but effective phone with 60 minutes of calling time.
From Time Magazine Archive
John McPhee has written whole, albeit slim books on oranges, the New Jersey pine barrens, Scottish weavers, an exotic flying machine called the Deltoid Pumpkin Seed, and the proliferation of that ultimate Saturday-night special, the cheap nuclear device.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
