long shotn.adj.
/ˈlɒŋ ʃɒt/, U.S. /ˈlɔŋ ˌʃɑt/, /ˈlɑŋ ˌʃɑt/ A. n.† 1. Long-barrelled guns; (hence, by extension) a group of soldiers armed with such guns. Obsolete. rare.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > piece of artillery > [noun] > other pieces of ordnance
bombardc1430
ribaudequin1443
stock-gun1465
seven sistersa1529
chamber1540
bastard1545
chamber piece1547
volger1548
dogc1550
battardc1565
long shot1595
quarter piece1625
pelican1639
monkey1650
spirol1653
stock-fowler1669
saltamartino1684
smeriglio1688
botcarda1700
carriage gun1723
Lancaster1857
Armstrong1860
wire gun1860
Columbiad1861
Parrott1861
wedge-gun1876
truck-gun1883
motor cannon1889
Black Maria1914
Jack Johnson1914
supergun1915
flak1938
1595 A. Hartwell tr. G. T. Minadoi Hist. Warres Turkes & Persians ix. 377 And presently after them, the Long-shot wrought in Algier and called Sciemete, being the ordinarie and perpetuall Guarde of the Generall.
2.
a. The furthest distance which a shot fired from a weapon can reach; a long distance (literal and figurative). Also (now chiefly): a shot fired over such a distance.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > a shot > type of shot
hail-shot1569
random shot1598
long shot1767
snapshot1808
point-blanker1824
pot-shot1843
snap1851
hip shot1874
pop shot1880
sighter1897
pot1914
over1915
short1922
snipe1969
the world > space > distance > [noun] > a long distance
world1619
a far cry1819
long shot1867
light year1929
1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment ii. i. 34 True Moll—but this sort of chit-chat keeps us at long-shot—I thought to have grappled with you by this time.
1776 G. Clinton Let. 23 July in G. Washington Papers (1993) Revolutionary War Ser. V. 434 A Tender Sloop made Sail & run up within full view & long Shot of Our Battery.
1785 G. Cartwright Jrnl. Resid. Coast Labrador 9 Dec. (1792) III. 103 He..fired a long shot at them but missed.
1809 Edinb. Advertiser 18 Apr. 246/2 Lieut. Hamilton rowing guard in the Unicorn's boat, was killed by a long shot.
1814 W. Scott Let. 17 June (1932) III. 451 I should be tempted to take a long shot at him [sc. Buonaparte] in his retreat to Elba.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Long-shot, a distant range. It is also used to express a long way.
1906 Badminton Mag. Jan. 89 The bull..was now a long shot away from a ridge 200 yards ahead.
1968 D. C. Lunt Taylor's Gut iv. 62 A swift flying dove, hit by a long shot way out over the water, started falling in a long arc.
2012 R. Bass Thousand Deer 144 He killed a deer when he was a young man: fired a long shot with his open-sight 30-30.
b. colloquial (originally U.S.) by a long shot: by a considerable amount, by far; at all, to any extent. Chiefly used emphatically in negative constructions. Cf. by a long chalk at chalk n. 6b.
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1830 Amateur 4 Sept. 87/1 We are not come to the end of the beach yet, by a long shot!
1848 in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 215 Mr. Divver offered a resolution summarily removing the superintendent, and was quickly told..that he was going too fast by a long shot.
1861 M. B. Chesnut Diary 26 Aug. in C. V. Woodward Mary Chesnut's Civil War (1981) viii. 163 ‘They don't pay the soldiers every week.’ ‘Not by a long shot,’ cried a soldier laddie.
1931 W. Lewis Apes of God 17 If those were my last wishes as they are not by a long shot, would they be perfectly clear or not?
1957 W. Saroyan Whole Voyald 17 It wasn't only to have pretty women swarm around that I hustled my first book into print. It wasn't that alone by a long shot.
1990 Daily Herald (Chicago) 14 Sept. vi. 2/6 My favorite miniseries weren't even nominated, but of those that were, ‘Family of Spies’ is the best by a long shot.
2003 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Dec. a18/3 Our troubles are not over, not by a long shot.
3. colloquial. A venture or undertaking with great potential but with little chance of success; a far-fetched explanation, a wild guess; spec. (originally Horse Racing) a bet laid against considerable odds, or a horse, etc., attracting such a bet. Cf. shot n.1 10c.
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the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > improbability, unlikeliness > [noun] > remote chance
a hundred to one1647
a million to one1678
long odds1764
long shot1796
off-chance1844
long chance1854
outside chance1867
a fat chance1892
to have a Chinaman's chance1915
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > betting > [noun] > type of bet
swoopstake1599
by-beta1627
levant1714
even money1732
play or pay bet1738
side bet1769
long shot1796
sweep1849
pay-or-play1853
sweepstake1861
pari-mutuel1868
to go a raker1869
flutter1874
skinner1874
by-wager1886
plunge1888
accumulator1889
saver1891
mutuel1893
quinella1902
parlay1904
Sydney or the bush1924
treble1924
daily double1930
all-up1933
round robin1944
double1951
twin double1960
perfecta1961
pool1963
lose bet1964
tiercé1964
Yankee bet1964
Yankee1967
nap1971
superfecta1971
tricast1972
triple1972
trixie1973
telebetting1974
trifecta1974
over-and-under1975
over-under1981
spread bet1981
1796 J. White Orig. Lett. Sir John Falstaff 7 Robin thought half a noble a long shot.
1841 Era 3 Jan. 9/3 Which would induce me to take Ben Brace [i.e. a racehorse] in as a long shot.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Long-shot,..a far-fetched explanation; something incredible.
1888 Sporting Life (Philadelphia) 10 Dec. Bachelor was next in demand at 5 to 1, and long shots were forthcoming about either of the others.
1939 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Nov. 24/7 The long shots won the first and second races.
1955 Sci. Amer. Feb. 47/2 I made the first test very simple, because the whole idea seemed a long shot.
1971 Publishers' Weekly 23 Aug. 45/2 Since establishing his company nine years ago, Grossman has played hunches and longshots.
2003 R. Ozeki All over Creation vi. 339 It seemed like a long shot that the baby would voluntarily enter the world at all.
4. Film, Photography, and Television (originally U.S.). A shot which includes figures or scenery at a distance. Contrasted with close-up n. a.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > production of television broadcast > [noun] > shot > types of shot
long shot1858
close-up1913
medium shot1925
travelling shot1927
medium close-up1933
reverse angle1933
three-shot1934
tilt shot1934
reaction shot1937
tracking shot1940
Dutch angle1947
two-shot1949
mid shot1953
freeze1960
freeze-frame1960
freeze-shot1960
frozen-frame1960
pack shot1960
noddy1982
arc shot1989
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > filming > shot > [noun] > types of
long shot1858
glass shot1908
close-up1913
aerial shot1920
angle shot1922
medium shot1925
far-away1926
travelling shot1927
zoom1930
zoom shot1930
process shot1931
close-medium shot1933
medium close-up1933
reverse angle1933
reverse shot1934
three-shot1934
tilt shot1934
medium-close shot1937
reaction shot1937
tracking shot1940
pan shot1941
stock shot1941
Dutch angle1947
cheat shot1948
establishing shot1948
master-scene1948
trucking shot1948
two-shot1949
bridging shot1951
body shot1952
library shot1953
master shot1953
mid shot1953
MS1953
pullback1957
MCU1959
noddy1982
arc shot1989
pop shot1993
1858 C. P. Smyth Astron. Exper. Peak of Teneriffe iv. i. 403 Rather disappointed at the result of our long-shot attempt, we descended from the flat roof.
1915 ‘B. M. Bower’ Jean of Lazy A xviii. 226 I believe I'd have a panoram of the coulee,—a long shot from out there in the meadow.
1934 B.B.C. Year-bk. 58 The first television programme was transmitted... New ways of using photo cells enabled artists to be followed from ‘long shot’ to ‘close up’ and vice versa.
1962 Movie Sept. 7/3 The last shot of the film is a longshot of a general advance.
1987 E. Prager Clea & Zeus Divorce (1988) i. 11 He was sitting before the intricate console, snapping the picture from closeup to long shot.
2012 Sight & Sound Apr. 63/1 Classically framed long shots of tourist-board woodland idylls give way to intimately observed chaos and terror.
B. adj.
1. Of or relating to the firing of a weapon at a distant range; designating a distance at which a long-range shot is, or may be, attempted.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > [adjective] > far
far-shot?1615
long shot1781
1781 S. Hood Let. 4 May in Mariner's Mirror (1933) 19 81 I have had a longshot action with a French squadron.
1795 Ann. Reg. 1791 (Rivington ed.) i. 185/1 What our seamen call a long shot fire is the most destructive of any to the rigging of ships.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. (1856) xl. 362 I ventured the ice, crawled on my belly, and reached long-shot distance.
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. July 490 This did not, however, suit her long-shot tactics.
1917 Employes Mag. (Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Co.) Aug. 85/2 The week passed with some long-shot cannonading.
2008 N. Popaditch & M. Steere Once Marine li. 238 The enemy infantry..can kill tanks at 3,500 meters, well beyond our own long-shot range.
2. colloquial. That is a ‘long shot’ (sense A. 3); having great potential but considered unlikely to succeed; characterized by risk or adventure; spec. (originally Horse Racing) of or relating to a bet laid against considerable odds, or a horse, etc., attracting such a bet.
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1837 Bell's Life in London 21 May And should he whisk off with the Laurel Crown, The long-shot betters are all done Brown!
1868 Era 8 Mar. 3/2 Captain Machell accepted two long shot bets about St Ronan for his Epsom and Newmarket engagements.
1890 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 31 July ii. 9/6 A long-shot attempt to lay hold of the occasion to provide money for the appeal.
1906 ‘O. Henry’ Four Million (1916) 33 A few long-shot winners at the New Orleans race-track.
1925 Financial Times 25 Aug. 2/6 The shares are a long-shot gamble.
1975 New Yorker 20 Jan. 81/1 It was a day for long-shot players.
1989 M. Amis London Fields 170 It was more the atmosphere of longshot desperation.
2004 Time 19 July 46/2 Turning a long-shot bid for the White House into a spot on the Democratic ticket.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1595