sawn-off
Britishadjective
-
(prenominal) (of a shotgun) having the barrel cut short, mainly to facilitate concealment of the weapon
-
informal (of a person) small in stature
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.
The other cadets carried a Zambian flag and a staff in the shape of “a crested eagle on a dinner plate atop a sawn-off broomstick.”
From The New Yorker • Mar. 11, 2017
Her bare bones apartment—a sawn-off Victorian bathtub, a packing-crate coffee table, and a molting zebra rug—were the very essence of charm.
From Slate • Mar. 26, 2015
The minaret of the mosque on the south side of town is a sawn-off brick stump, with its loudspeaker dangling loose down its side from an electrical wire.
From Time • Mar. 11, 2011
In the 1930s, the National Firearms Act banned sawn-off shotguns, which had become popular with the mob during prohibition.
From BBC • Jan. 11, 2011
There were six in all, but rather more than that number of shadowy objects had appeared unexpectedly among the sawn-off stumps.
From A Damaged Reputation by Bindloss, Harold
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.
