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🔫 A hunting gun 🚗 Front car seat 🍺 To drink fast 🦆 To hunt with gun
to shotgun

to shotgun

1 8.9
Make a hole in a can and drink it very quickly
  • verb
  • /ˈʃɑtˌɡʌn/
  • Slang
translation icon : beberse una lata de un trago
  • She was excited to shotgun a cold drink with her friends at the tailgate.

Examples

  • At the party, everyone gathered around to watch him shotgun a beer in seconds.

  • Come on, you take two shots back to back, and then you shotgun your beer as a chaser.

    Pretenders (2021)

  • The only thing I know for a fact that Jennifer Welch will never, ever shotgun is pickleball.

  • To celebrate the end of exams, they decided to shotgun a few cans of beer together.

Synonyms

to pop
vsto shotgun
  • Informal
25 8.2

To drink an alcoholic drink quickly

is done by puncturing a can rather than just drinking quickly
to toss off
vsto shotgun
  • Informal
8.4

To drink a whole glass quickly, often of alcohol

is done by puncturing a can before drinking
to chugalug
vsto shotgun
  • Slang
9.9

To drink something very quickly in one go

requires making a hole in a can before drinking
to swigger
vsto shotgun
  • Informal
9.9

To drink a liquid quickly in big gulps, often alcohol

is done by puncturing a can rather than using gulps

Antonyms

to sip
127 1.0

To drink a small amount at a time, usually slowly

to savor
  • US
4 3.9

To give food a certain taste with spices or herbs

Compounds

sawed-off shotgun
7 8.2

A gun with very short barrels that shoots many small metal balls at close range

shotgun shell
  • Specialized
7 3.8

A small case filled with many small metal balls that is fired from a shotgun

shotgun wedding
  • Informal
4 5.2

A quick marriage arranged because the woman is pregnant

shotgun shack
  • US
1 8.3

A narrow house with one floor, rooms in a row and no hallway

shotgun approach
1 6.5

A strategy that tries many different things at the same time

shotgun microphone
  • Specialized
6.7

A long narrow microphone that picks up sound from one direction, often from far away

shotgun mike
  • Specialized
7.7

A long, narrow microphone that records sound clearly from one direction

How Fast

to guzzle
  • Informal
16 5.8
to shotgun
  • Slang
1 8.9
to chug
  • Informal
31 5.0
to gulp
26 2.9
to drink
∞ 1.0
to sip
127 1.0

Surface Forms

shotgun infinitive
shotgunned past
shotgunned past participle
shotgunning present participle
shotguns third person singular

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the verb shotgun (to drink a can very fast) is to think of making a hole and 'shooting' the drink out like a quick 'shot'. That's why to 'shotgun' a beer means to puncture the can and drink it very quickly.