Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

sure as shooting

Idioms  
  1. Most certainly, as in It's going to snow tonight, sure as shooting, or That grizzly is sure as shooting going to make dinner out of us. This idiom has replaced the older sure as a gun, dating from the mid-1600s, a time when guns fired with far less certainty. [Second half of 1800s]


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.

All sweeping statements should be qualified or trouble will ensue, sure as shooting.

From Time Magazine Archive

And you sure as shooting don’t need an outhouse if you don’t have folks living nearby.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

But sure as shooting, this was the other person the Preacher said we were gonna have to go see.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

But if we’d gone to the courts I’d got half, sure as shooting!

From Wunpost by Coolidge, Dane

I'll bring one of them home to sail on the bay—I will, as sure as shooting.

From Sharing Her Crime by Fleming, May Agnes