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
In 2019, in non-shotgun formations, Jackson had 19 drop-backs and combined with Ravens running backs for 27 carries, according to Sports Info Solutions. Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 3 June 2021 Lunch and registration begin at 11 a.m., with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. Post-Tribune, 7 July 2017
Noun
Cannon found that counts 2-5, by incorporating the allegations in count 1, violated the federal rule against shotgun pleadings. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 5 Sep. 2025 Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will navigate the booth assignment for the flagship, while Peyton and Eli’s ManningCast will ride shotgun on ESPN2. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
Westman had decorated the assault rifle and shotgun with hate speech in ways that aligned with the dark underbelly of alt-right meme culture that regularly disparages people of color, Jewish people, the LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities. Natalie Eilbert, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shotgun
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shotgun
Noun
  • The framers of the U.S. Constitution lived in an age of muskets and messengers, when war moved slowly and left time for Congress and the president to confer.
    Scott Neuman, NPR, 23 June 2025
  • On April 19, 1775, the crack of a musket marked the first official command for colonists to fire upon the red-coated army of Britain’s King George III.
    Lisa Meyers McClintick, USA Today, 21 June 2025
Adjective
  • No real effort is made to stop audio bootleggers, and pristine tapes of these shows have emerged, but the video documentation is scattershot and borderline unwatchable since the rule-breakers are often miles from the stage and forced to film at covert angles.
    Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Kennedy provided a scattershot series of thoughts on Thursday on everything from Covid-19 vaccines, anti-depressants, and hepatitis B.
    Philip Elliott, Time, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Trump would also stop treating the Europeans as enemies with his blunderbuss tariffs.
    Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
  • And with the Trump administration taking a blunderbuss to anything that remotely resembles DEI, the mood across the entertainment industries is generally apprehensive.
    Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 2 June 2025
Adjective
  • Police determined the injury was accidental and not child abuse.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The sound does much of the work in action sequences obscured by blinding snowstorms and flashing emergency lights, punctuated by creative acts of accidental self-harm that save our protagonists from certain death more than once.
    Katie Rife, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Speaking on Fox & Friends, Patel said forensic teams identified Robinson's DNA on both a screwdriver and a towel wrapped around the firearm believed to have been used in the fatal shooting.
    Amanda Castro Hannah Parry Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • One reason is that the availability of increasingly lethal firearms continues to grow dramatically.
    John J. Donohue, Time, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Warning Shots North Korea issued a scathing statement Saturday criticizing South Korea for firing more than 10 machine-gun warning shots on Tuesday as North Korean troops worked on a barrier near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), the de facto border.
    Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Typically these include cargo carrying, casualty evacuation, mine laying, one-way attacks with explosive warheads, and direct combat using machine-gun turrets.
    David Hambling, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The agreement says Campbell’s campaign was selected for audit at a random drawing in 2023.
    Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The second verse is no less random, with lyrics about moonwalking on a UFO, dropping bars while brushing teeth and a shout out to legendary 2001 blaxploitation-adjacent comedy Pootie Tang.
    Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Federal agents executed a search warrant at her home in Virginia and found three 9mm pistols, including one inside a purse that also contained Perkins’ photo identification.
    KC Baker, People.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • My thoughts, instead of feeling like they were being released via machine gun, felt like they were launched from an old-timey pistol shot underwater, the propulsion forcibly slowed.
    P.E. Moskowitz September 11, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Shotgun.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shotgun. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

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