sawed-off

sawed-off

See also: sawed off

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Adjective

sawed-off (not comparable)

1. Shortened by sawing.

   The sawed-off shotgun was illegal because its shorter barrel made it too easy to conceal.

2. (slang) Short (as though something that should be there isn't).

   He was a sawed-off runt, just a little guy, but he packed so much attitude into that little package that no one was going to make anything about it.

Noun

sawed-off (plural sawed-offs)

1. (slang, US) A shotgun with a barrel and sometimes buttstock which have been shortened by sawing them off; a sawed-off shotgun.
   • 1988, N.W.A. (Ice Cube), "Straight Outta Compton", Straight Outta Compton, 8 Aug 1998:

     When I'm called off, I got a sawed-off / Squeeze the trigger and bodies are hauled off

Synonyms

• (short barrel shotgun):
  • (UK) sawn-off