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• shotgun wedding
  shotgun wedding

  noun

  a wedding occasioned or precipitated by pregnancy.
• Shotgun wedding
  Shotgun wedding

  An agreement or compromise made through necessity, as in Since neither side won a majority, the coalition government was obviously a shotgun wedding. This expression alludes to a marriage precipitated by a woman's pregnancy, causing her father to point a literal or figurative gun at the responsible man's head. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

shotgun wedding

American  

Or shotgun marriage

noun

1. a wedding occasioned or precipitated by pregnancy.

2. Informal. a compromise, merger, accord, etc., occasioned by necessity.

   The coalition government was obviously a shotgun wedding.

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shotgun wedding British  

noun

1. informal a wedding into which one or both partners are coerced, usually because the woman is pregnant

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Shotgun wedding Idioms  

1. An agreement or compromise made through necessity, as in Since neither side won a majority, the coalition government was obviously a shotgun wedding. This expression alludes to a marriage precipitated by a woman's pregnancy, causing her father to point a literal or figurative gun at the responsible man's head. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.

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Etymology

Origin of shotgun wedding

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shotgun wedding

The midnight announcement by the leaders of both parties was made in sombre tones and had the air of a shotgun wedding.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024

And we do that kind of shotgun wedding, and then the kids churn through homes.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2022

They didn’t hear a happy marriage so much as a shotgun wedding.

From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2019

Given the dates, the show’s suggestion of a shotgun wedding does not seem unlikely.

From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2019

Even the fact that it was a shotgun wedding didn’t spoil the day for her.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson