shotgun 1 of 3

shotgun

2 of 3

noun

shotgun

3 of 3

verb

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shotgun
Adjective
Lunch and registration begin at 11 a.m., with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. Post-Tribune, 7 July 2017 Outing highlights include: Registration, lunch and a putting contest (noon) Shotgun start (1:30 p.m.) Dinner (6:30 p.m.) Proximities, skins, awards and a 50/50 raffle Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the event. Megan Becka, cleveland.com, 13 June 2017
Noun
That becomes Chee’s excuse when Joe later teases him about missing a shotgun hit from, like, two feet away. Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025 After the shooting, police recovered an AR-15 style rifle – in addition to the pistol and a shotgun found at the scene – inside the car Phoenix Ikner drove to campus, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the ongoing investigation. Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 20 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shotgun
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shotgun
Noun
  • The gear is museum-worthy – muskets longer than men are tall, coats ranging from rich brocade to dun homespun.
    Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2025
  • The men, who’d assembled on the moors hours earlier, were armed with muskets, sticks, hatchets, and heavy blacksmith’s hammers.
    John Cassidy, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • This scattershot approach wasted potential opportunities and highlighted the importance of a personalized touch.
    Tammy Homegardner, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
  • The administration's tariff rollout has given off the distinct impression of being done in a scattershot, shoot-from-the-hip manner.
    Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • What the Supreme Court should not do is hand down a blunderbuss of a legal rule — one that could very well throw every public school in the country into turmoil — based on a half-baked legal theory constructed by lawyers who don’t even know if their clients’ rights were violated yet.
    Ian Millhiser, Vox, 15 Apr. 2025
  • Now comes President Donald Trump with his blunderbuss actions that weaken or threaten to weaken the press across the board, perplexing us all who are paying attention.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • What followed was part social experiment, part accidental soul-baring, and slightly more fun than doomscrolling solo.
    Jennifer Jolly, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Similarly, an accidental executor can be the trustee of a revocable trust after the grantor has passed away.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.D., Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Many aspects of American life—for instance, the view held by many Americans that freedom and the right to bear firearms are inextricable—do not resonate outside the United States.
    RANA MITTER, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
  • Johnson also spoke about the importance of properly securing firearms and using gun locks.
    Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Her old boss Raymond King (J.K. Simmons), someone Chris had helped, was shot dead in LA and left a wall of random evidence involving a broken family, human trafficking and global assassinations.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
  • The company, which started in 2015 and sells itself as a meal kit service, is actually closer to an online grocery store than a place that’s going to send you half an onion wrapped in plastic and a tiny baggy of cumin to make some so-so black bean tacos or a random stir fry.
    Carina Finn, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Richie hands Harry a pistol, but the fixer gives it back.
    Matt Cabral, EW.com, 20 Apr. 2025
  • After the shooting, police recovered an AR-15 style rifle – in addition to the pistol and a shotgun found at the scene – inside the car Phoenix Ikner drove to campus, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the ongoing investigation.
    Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 20 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Defendant referred to victim in past tense, detective testifies Cousins’ status as a possible suspect was strengthened by his inadvertent language missteps in his first interview with a Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit detective, the jury learned on Tuesday.
    Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Skinner has been out of commission since getting an inadvertent knee in the head from the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen on March 26.
    Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Shotgun.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shotgun. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

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