pot-shootv.
/ˈpɒtʃuːt/, U.S. /ˈpɑtˌʃut/ Chiefly U.S.
transitive and intransitive. To take a pot-shot at (a person or animal); to take pot-shots. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > discharge firearms [verb (intransitive)] > types of firing
plunge1761
steal1794
snipe1832
to fire into the brown (of them)1845
pot1854
pot-shoot1867
group1911
pot-shot1913
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > shoot (a person or thing)
shoot1617
to bird off1688
to knock downa1744
to pick off1745
pop1762
drill1808
plug1833
perforate1838
slap1842
stop1845
pot1860
spot1882
plunk1888
pip1900
souvenir1915
poop1917
spray1922
smoke1926
zap1942
crack1943
pot-shoot1969
1867 ‘Ouida’ Under Two Flags I. xiii. 300 We were hunting Arabs, of course,—pot-shooting rather, as we never got nigh enough to their main body to have a clear charge at them.
1870 Times 24 Oct. 4/4 The risks of being spotted by any Franc-tireur who might be out pot-shooting.
1913 C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy ii. 31 He..resolved that he wouldn't take chances with a man who would pot-shoot.
1940 Nevada State Jrnl. 13 Nov. 4/4 While trying to pot-shoot double features it might be well to let the other barrel go, too—at double-talk comedians.
1969 Eng. Jrnl. Dec. 1309 The young men who have enjoyed pot-shooting policemen for the past few summers.
1983 P. Anderson Time Patrolman 41 Bring a hopper to an instant where you are, hover on antigravity, and potshoot, hm?
2003 Lansing State Jrnl. (Nexis) 10 Oct. 8 a It's one thing to show pheasants being taken ‘on the wing’, but it's another showing someone pot shooting a young bear out of a tree.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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