# shotgun

Pronunciation: say "SHOT-gun" US /ˈʃɑtɡʌn/, UK /ˈʃɒtɡʌn/

## Noun

1. A gun that fires a load, typically of small metal balls called shot, from a cartridge.
   - Simple: A gun that fires a cartridge full of small metal balls.
   - _He loaded two shells into the shotgun and snapped the barrels shut._
   - _Bird hunters favor shotguns because the spreading shot makes a moving target easier to hit._
2. The front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver; also used when claiming other things, such as a bedroom. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The seat next to the driver in a car, or something else you claim first, like a bedroom.
   - _Since she had called shotgun first, I squeezed into the back with the dog._
   - _At the beach house, Maya called shotgun on the bedroom with the balcony._
4. Using a broad, scattered mix of methods, often indiscriminately, in the hope that some will produce the result wanted.
   - Simple: Trying lots of different things at once, without much aim, to get a result.
   - _Shotgun marketing wastes money on people who will never buy the product._
   - _The senator's shotgun strategy of attacking every rival at once backfired._
5. Achieved through the threat of force or by other dubious means, as in a forced deal or marriage.
   - Simple: Forced on someone by threats or by unfair means.
   - _Critics called the treaty a piece of shotgun diplomacy, signed with warships in the harbor._
   - _The merger was a shotgun marriage arranged by regulators who feared the bank would collapse._
6. In American football, an offensive formation with the quarterback lined up several yards behind the center to receive the snap, often flanked by one or two running backs.
   - Simple: A way of lining up in American football where the quarterback stands back from the center to get the ball.
   - _On third and long, the offense went to the shotgun with two backs flanking the quarterback._
   - _Out of the shotgun, the quarterback has an extra moment to read the defense before he throws._
7. Relating to shotguns, either as they are used now or as they were used in the past.
   - Simple: Having to do with shotguns, now or in the past.
   - _The store sells shotgun cartridges only to customers with a license._
   - _On the old mail route, a shotgun guard rode beside the driver to protect the strongbox from bandits._
9. A one-story house with no hallways or corridors, whose rooms are arranged in a straight line. *(dialectal, Southern US, US)*
   - Simple: A house on one floor with no halls, where the rooms are in one straight line.
   - _They bought a run-down shotgun near the river and restored it room by room._
   - _In a shotgun, you walk through the bedroom to get to the kitchen._

## Verb

3. To lay claim to something by saying so out loud. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To say out loud that something is yours.
   - _She shotgunned the corner office the moment the lease was signed._
   - _If you want the big bedroom, you'd better shotgun it now._
8. To drink a beverage rapidly from a can by making a hole in the bottom, putting the hole to the mouth, and opening the top. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To drink a whole can very fast by making a hole in the bottom and opening the top.
   - _The fraternity brothers lined up on the porch to shotgun beers before the game._
   - _She shotgunned her beer in under five seconds, to loud cheers._
10. To send out many requests, answers, or the like, typically in the hope that one of them gets a good result, the way a shotgun's pellets spread toward a target. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To send out lots of things, like letters or guesses, hoping at least one works.
   - _It's tempting to shotgun applications out to every opening, but a few careful ones work better._
   - _Desperate for a lead, the reporter was shotgunning emails to anyone who had ever worked at the company._
11. To hit the ball straight back at the pitcher.
   - Simple: In baseball, to hit the ball right back at the pitcher.
   - _The leadoff hitter shotgunned a fastball back through the box, and the pitcher barely got his glove up._
   - _Young pitchers learn to finish their motion ready to field, in case a hitter tries to shotgun one back at them._
12. To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device and shortly afterward breathe the smoke into another person's mouth. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To breathe in smoke and then blow it into another person's mouth.
   - _The couple took turns shotgunning hits off the pipe._
   - _Since she had never smoked before, he offered to shotgun the first hit to her._
13. To try to fix a fault in software or hardware with many random changes or part swaps instead of first finding its cause. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To try to fix a computer problem by changing lots of things at random instead of looking for the cause first.
   - _We could shotgun until the build passes, but I'd rather read the logs and find the actual cause._
   - _With the deadline an hour away, the technician resorted to shotgunning and replaced every chip on the board._

## Origin

Formed from shot + gun. The sense “front passenger seat” comes from the phrase ride shotgun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shotgun (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).