shotgun
Americannoun
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a smoothbore gun for firing small shot to kill birds and small quadrupeds, though often used with buckshot to kill larger animals.
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Football. an offensive formation, designed primarily for passing situations, in which the backfield is spread out with the quarterback positioned a few yards behind the center and the other backs, as potential pass receivers, positioned as slotbacks or flankers.
adjective
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of, pertaining to, used in, or carried out with a shotgun.
a shotgun murder;
shotgun pellets.
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covering a wide area in an irregularly effective manner without concern for details or particulars; tending to be all-inclusive, nonselective, and haphazard; indiscriminate in choice and indifferent to specific results.
He favored the shotgun approach in his political attacks.
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seeking a desired result through the use or inclusion of a wide variety of elements.
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having all the rooms opening one into the next in a line from front to back.
shotgun apartment;
shotgun cottage.
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gained or characterized by coercive methods.
verb (used with object)
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to fire a shotgun at.
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Slang. to drink (something, especially a beer) quickly, by puncturing a hole in the bottom of a can, placing one's mouth over the hole, and then opening the top of the can slightly, causing the liquid to drain down one's throat.
I saw him shotgun a beer at the party last night.
idioms
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ride shotgun,
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to ride in the front passenger seat of a car.
The ride-along program lets you ride shotgun in a racing car with a professional driver.
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to protect or keep a watchful eye on something.
The treasurer is riding shotgun over the nation's economy.
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(formerly) to ride atop a stagecoach as a shotgun-bearing guard.
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call shotgun, to preemptively claim the privilege of sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle.
When I was a kid, calling shotgun was an important part of the drive to school.
noun
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a shoulder firearm with unrifled bore designed for the discharge of small shot at short range and used mainly for hunting small game
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( as modifier )
shotgun fire
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American football an offensive formation in which the quarterback lines up for a snap unusually far behind the line of scrimmage
adjective
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involving coercion or duress
a shotgun merger
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involving or relying on speculative suggestions, etc
a shotgun therapy
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shotgunsimple
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shotgunssimple
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have shotgunnedperfect
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has shotgunnedperfect
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am shotgunningprogressive
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are shotgunningprogressive
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is shotgunningprogressive
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have been shotgunningperfect progressive
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has been shotgunningperfect progressive
Past
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shotgunnedsimple
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had shotgunnedperfect
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was shotgunningprogressive
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were shotgunningprogressive
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had been shotgunningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shotgun
An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; shot 1 ( def. ) + gun 1 ( def. )
Vocabulary lists containing shotgun
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.
Occasionally, a new tool or technique comes along that widens this to a shotgun: aim at a few closely related problems and hope that you hit one.
From Slate • Jun. 22, 2026
He took a shotgun and additional guns out of his parents’ gun safe, according to dispatch records.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
"We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer," Pirro said.
From Barron's • May 3, 2026
The firearms are described as a Mossberg 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun and a Rock Island Armory 1911 .38-caliber pistol.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
I’d sat shotgun because I thought it bettered our chances of surviving a head-on car crash if both of my parents weren’t in the front.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
