Birdshot

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Small lead or steel shot, as pieces of ammunition, used in shotgun shells. countable, uncountable

    "In the first shooting, four of the teenagers were sitting on a porch and were peppered with birdshot from a shotgun fired from a passing car around 2:30 p.m., Sheriff John Rutherford said."

  2. 2
    A rifle or pistol cartridge containing small shot instead of a single larger projectile. countable, uncountable

Example

More examples

"In the first shooting, four of the teenagers were sitting on a porch and were peppered with birdshot from a shotgun fired from a passing car around 2:30 p.m., Sheriff John Rutherford said."

Etymology

From bird + shot.

More for "birdshot"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.