shotgun

shotgun — noun

1. a shoulder firearm designed to discharge many small metal pellets (called shot)

1.nounB2
Definition

a shoulder firearm designed to discharge many small metal pellets (called shot) with each trigger pull, typically used for hunting birds and small animals at close to medium range.

Example

Roya loaded her shotgun and walked toward the hunting blind before sunrise.

Christopher inherited a double-barreled shotgun from his grandfather.

collocation: double-barreled shotgun / pump-action shotgun

Common collocations
  • shotgun blast
  • shotgun shell
  • shotgun cartridge
  • double-barreled shotgun
  • pump-action shotgun
  • load a shotgun
  • fire a shotgun
Antonyms
  • rifle

    A rifle fires a single bullet with precision over long distances, unlike a shotgun's spread of pellets.

Grammar Patterns

shotgun + noun (shotgun shell, shotgun blast)

a + adjective + shotgun

Common Mistakes

He bought a shotgun for target practice at long distances.
He bought a rifle for target practice at long distances.
Shotguns are designed for close-to-medium range with spread pellets; rifles are for precise long-range shooting.

2. the front passenger position beside the person who drives a car or truck; also t

2.nounB1
Definition

the front passenger position beside the person who drives a car or truck; also the name of that seat in the informal game of claiming it first.

Example

Nikhil ran to the car and called shotgun before anyone else could.

idiom: call shotgun — claim the front passenger seat

Sari always rides shotgun when her older brother drives them to school.

Common collocations
  • call shotgun
  • ride shotgun
  • shotgun seat
  • shotgun position
  • have shotgun
  • get shotgun
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • back seat

    The seats behind the front row, which are not 'shotgun' even if the car has only two rows.

Grammar Patterns

call shotgun

ride shotgun

the shotgun seat

Usage Note

Almost always used in these fixed phrases. 'Ride shotgun' historically referred to a guard carrying a shotgun sitting next to the driver of a stagecoach.

Common Mistakes

The shotgun is the back seat.
The shotgun is the front passenger seat next to the driver.
Learners sometimes confuse which seat 'shotgun' refers to; it is always the front passenger seat.

3. an offensive formation in American football where the quarterback stands several

3.nounC1
Definition

an offensive formation in American football where the quarterback stands several yards behind the center to receive the snap, giving more time to pass, while other backs spread out as potential receivers.

Example

The quarterback took the snap from the shotgun and threw a quick pass downfield.

Andrei prefers the shotgun formation because it gives him more time to read the defense.

collocation: shotgun formation

Common collocations
  • shotgun formation
  • shotgun offense
  • out of the shotgun
  • in the shotgun
  • shotgun quarterback
Synonyms
  • spread formation

    A related formation that also spreads receivers wide but differs in the QB's exact positioning.

Antonyms
  • under center

    The traditional formation where the QB stands directly behind the center to receive the snap.

Grammar Patterns

shotgun formation

in the shotgun

shotgun offense

Usage Note

This sense is specific to American football and rare in British English. The formation contrasts with 'under center,' where the QB stands directly behind the center.

Common Mistakes

The soccer team used a shotgun formation.
The football team lined up in a shotgun formation.
This term applies only to American football (gridiron), not soccer or other sports.
Idioms

ride shotgun

idiom

to sit in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, or to be positioned next to the person in charge in any context.

James let his younger brother ride shotgun on the trip to the airport.

The new manager rode shotgun with the CEO during the entire merger negotiation.

call shotgun

idiom

to claim the front passenger seat of a vehicle before others, usually by shouting the word first.

Folake called shotgun the moment the group walked out of the restaurant.

There is a rule in my family that whoever calls shotgun first gets the front seat.

shotgun — adjective

shotgun — verb

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

While 'front passenger seat' is the neutral, technical term for the position next to the driver, 'shotgun' is the informal, idiomatic word used mainly in casual conversation. 'Ride shotgun' describes the act of sitting there — it is a verb phrase, not a seat name. 'Call shotgun' is a separate game-like rule: the first person to shout the word gets the seat. The three expressions differ in grammar and use: 'shotgun' works as a noun ('I have shotgun'), 'ride shotgun' as a verb phrase, and 'call shotgun' as a social ritual. In British English, 'shotgun' is understood but less common than in American English, where it is a staple of childhood car trips and road-trip culture.

shotgun ↗front passenger seatride shotgun ↗call shotgun ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

Prepositions

  • in the shotgun
  • out of the shotgun

Etymology

EnglishAmerican English

The word 'shotgun' first appeared in American English around the 1770s, combining 'shot' (the small metal pellets fired from the gun) with 'gun.' The figurative use for the front passenger seat dates back to the stagecoach era (1800s), when a guard armed with a shotgun sat beside the driver for protection. By the mid-20th century, this practice had evolved into the informal car-seat idiom 'riding shotgun.' The adjective senses — 'forced' (shotgun wedding, 1920s) and 'broad and unsystematic' (shotgun approach, 1960s) — both draw their imagery from the weapon's characteristics: a shotgun forces its user into a rushed situation (metaphorically held at gunpoint) or sprays a wide area without precise aiming. The verb sense of drinking quickly from a can emerged in the 1980s among American college students and refers to the speed and force of liquid exiting the punctured can, likened to a shotgun blast.