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

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

Historians have speculated that theirs was a shotgun wedding which Shakespeare entered into with gritted teeth.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023

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

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2022

There were no other Supreme Court justices in attendance, with the exception of Justice Clarence Thomas, who performed the ceremony, the equivalent of a shotgun wedding.

From Slate • Oct. 27, 2020

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