sawed-off shotgun

American  

[sawd-awf shot-guhn, -of] / ˈsɔdˌɔf ˈʃɒtˌgʌn, -ˌɒf /

especially British, sawn-off shotgun

noun

1. a shotgun having a shorter barrel than a standard shotgun.

   The informants had seen shell casings on the stairs and a sawed-off shotgun in the cellar.

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Etymology

Origin of sawed-off shotgun

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Investigators found a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other unspecified evidence during a search of Hale’s home.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 28, 2023

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, challenges the move to treat the guns like short-barreled rifles, a weapon like a sawed-off shotgun that has been heavily regulated since the 1930s.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 31, 2023

Omar Little was a Black man who stalked the streets of Baltimore wearing a swashbuckling duster and carrying a deadly sawed-off shotgun.

From Washington Post • Sep. 7, 2021

In 1939 the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a “well regulated militia.”

From Salon • Jul. 17, 2019

A large pistol, which looks like a sawed-off shotgun, from which flares are fired.

From Over the Top by Empey, Arthur Guy