shotgun
UK[ˈʃɒtɡʌn]US[ˈʃɑːtɡʌn]
n
A long gun designed to be fired from the shoulder, having a smooth bore and typically firing a cartridge containing many small pellets (shot) which spread out after leaving the barrel.
n
The act of firing such a gun or the shot fired from it.
adj
Denoting a method, approach, or position characterized by broad, non-selective, or forceful application (e.g., shotgun approach, shotgun seat).
Morpheme Breakdown
shot
gun
shot
gun
Etymology
The word "shotgun" is a transparent Modern English compound, formed by directly combining the nouns "shot" and "gun." "Shot" traces back to the Old English verb scēotan, meaning "to shoot, project," which itself originates from the Proto-Germanic skeutaną. "Gun" has a more colorful history, emerging in Middle English and possibly derived from the Old Norse female name Gunnhildr (from gunnr, meaning "war"), which was humorously applied to early siege engines. The compound "shotgun" logically describes a firearm designed specifically to fire a charge of multiple small pellets (shot), as opposed to a single bullet, with the term solidifying in the 18th-19th centuries as this type of weapon became distinct from muskets and rifles.
Analysis
Structure: shot + gun
shot: From Old English sc(e)ot, gesceot ("act of shooting, what is shot"). Origin: Proto-Germanic. Functional role: The projectile or the act of projecting it.
gun: From Middle English gonne, gunne, likely a shortening of the Scandinavian female name Gunnhildr (used in early cannon names). Origin: Proto-Germanic. Functional role: The weapon or device that discharges a projectile.
Examples
He kept a shotgun for hunting birds on his property.
The police heard the blast of a shotgun in the distance.
We took a shotgun approach to marketing, sending emails to every address we could find.