poodle shooter
- noun
- Offensive
:
pistola de pacotilla
- Some hunters carry a poodle shooter for targeting small animals or for beginner practice.
Examples
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Many enthusiasts dismissed the new rifle as just another poodle shooter.
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Not bad with a poodle shooter and a makeshift silencer, huh?
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Many hunters avoid using poodle shooters for larger game.
Synonyms
2
7.2
A small weak gun that has little power
1
3.6
A toy gun that makes a popping sound when you pull the trigger
A small gun like a .22 rifle that people use for casual target shooting
Antonyms
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
poodle + shooter
Although the input lacks a dictionary definition for 'poodle', most learners know a poodle is a (often small) dog and 'shooter' denotes someone/thing that shoots; this creates a loose, partially transparent image of something meant for shooting small targets and thus suggests a small/weak weapon. The derogatory, evaluative sense ('ineffective firearm suitable only for small game') is metaphorical and culturally specific, so the precise meaning is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Poodle shooter may come from the image of a tiny gun used to shoot a small dog, with poodle and shooter creating a picture of a weak weapon. That's why people use it to call a gun 'weak' or only good for 'small game'.