shooting gallery
Americannoun
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a place equipped with targets and used for practice in shooting.
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Slang. a place where drug addicts can buy and inject themselves with narcotic drugs.
noun
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an area, often enclosed, designed for target practice, shooting, etc
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slang a house where heroin addicts inject themselves
Etymology
Origin of shooting gallery
First recorded in 1830–40
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 element of surprise is like those children's toys with a shooting gallery, a little hammer, and a bunny that pops up in different windows... you have to be quick enough to catch it."
From Barron's • May 17, 2026
Don’t overlook the shooting gallery in Frontierland or the carnival games at Pixar Pier in California Adventure.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2023
A shooting gallery broke out to start the game: The Terrapins opened 6-of-9 from the floor, with Wisconsin keeping pace at 6-of-7 as the teams raced to a 14-14 tie.
From Washington Times • Jan. 25, 2023
The closest she had ever come to firing an assault rifle was at a carnival shooting gallery.
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2023
Next to the steakhouse is a shooting gallery, where the fake guns have such poor aim that no one can hit the little bull’s-eyes attached to plastic cactuses, wild-eyed cowboy cutouts, and stuffed, patchy-haired bobcats.
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
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.
