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shotgun marriage. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
shotgun marriage, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
shotgun marriage in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
shotgun marriage you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From shotgun + marriage; compare shotgun wedding.
Pronunciation
Noun
shotgun marriage (plural shotgun marriages)
- (countable) A marriage beginning with (resulting from) a shotgun wedding.
- 1996, George A. Akerlof et al., “An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States” (journal article), reproduced in Explorations in Pragmatic Economics: Selected Papers of George A. Akerlof, Oxford University Press (2005), ISBN 978-19-925391-3, page 146:
- Others explained that a forced marriage was likely to end in an early divorce, so that the child would suffer more in a shotgun marriage than if born out of wedlock.
- (countable) A shotgun wedding itself.
- (uncountable) Such marriages, or such weddings, taken collectively.
- (countable and uncountable) Used figuratively.