shooting iron

American

noun

Informal.

a firearm, especially a pistol or revolver.

shooting iron British

noun

slang a firearm, esp a pistol

"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 shooting iron

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

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.

See Examples For:

shooting iron

He walked again to Idaho Springs with no ration book save his shooting iron.

From Time Magazine Archive

A stark, crude, unlovely shooting iron, the M-3 is nevertheless rugged, light and easy to massproduce.

From Time Magazine Archive

"It's over a half mile," he said, "and I never yet saw the shooting iron that could do damage at such a distance."

From The Gold Hunters' Adventures Or, Life in Australia by James Wells Champney

But the favorite amusement was shooting iron ramrods.

From In The Ranks From the Wilderness to Appomattox Court House by R. E. McBride

You never know when you may want a shooting iron up in the woods.

From At Whispering Pine Lodge by Lawrence J. Leslie

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023