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scattershot

American  
[skat-er-shot] / ˈskæt ərˌʃɒt /

adjective

  1. delivered over a wide area and at random; generalized and indiscriminate.

    a scattershot attack on the proposed program.
scattershot British  
/ ˈskætəˌʃɒt /

adjective

  1. random; haphazard

    their approach to conservation is scattershot and unscientific
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of scattershot

First recorded in 1960–65; adj. use of scatter shot

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.