pot shot


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pot·shot

also pot shot  (pŏt′shŏt′)
n.
1. A random or easy shot.
2. A criticism made without careful thought and aimed at a handy target for attack: reporters taking potshots at the mayor.

[So called because such a shot is fired by a hunter whose main purpose is to get food for the pot.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pot shot

or

potshot

n
1. (Hunting) a chance shot taken casually, hastily, or without careful aim
2. (Hunting) a shot fired to kill game in disregard of the rules of sport
3. (Hunting) a shot fired at quarry within easy range, often from an ambush
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Translations
sokkolaukaus

pot shot

n to take a potshot at sthsparare a casaccio contro qc
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Now, I'd like to know what the eternal thunders we was marched into these woods for anyhow, unless it was to give the rebs a regular pot shot at us.
"'Bank-thieves; the one that had the pot shots was the very brute I drove out of the bank at Coburg, with a bullet in him!"'
More than 20 people took a pot shot at glory during a Rotary club fundraiser.
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], Oct 21 ( ANI ): With political tug of war pacing up in Madhya Pradesh ahead of assembly elections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday took a pot shot at the Congress party and said that when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in 2003, condition of the state was "miserable".
Pot shot at earwigs Protect emerging dahlia and chrysanthemum flowers from earwig damage by putting an upturned plant pot filled with straw on a cane set between the flower heads.
Snapchat has probably done one of the most audacious April Fools' Day pranks in the long history of pranks when they took a pot shot at Instagram.
FRENCH officials have taken a pot shot at England's 'arrogance' over their Euro 2016 training base.
| POT SHOT: Edward Naylor, chief executive of Naylor Industries, with the firm''s flowerpots on display at the offices of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills in Westminster
He's taken a pot shot at Mumford and Sons saying they look like "they've got nits".
The five-piece band, who will play Kasbah in Primrose Hill Street on Saturday September 1, came under fire when a couple of youngsters took a pot shot at them with a pellet gun from the top of a city tower block.
"Eurozone meltdown is damaging business confidence but this must not be used as an alibi for no growth in the UK" - Tory MP David Ruffley takes a pot shot at George Osborne.
Ronnie O's Imogen pot shot shame SNOOKER ace Ronnie O'Sullivan took to Twitter after landing in hot water for an obscene Imogen Thomas outburst on the site.