English · Idiom Historical

a bad shot

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

A wrong guess, A sporting phrase; a bad shot is one which doesiiot bring down the bird shot at, one that misses the mark.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “a bad shot” mean?

A wrong guess, A sporting phrase; a bad shot is one which doesiiot bring down the bird shot at, one that misses the mark.

Is “a bad shot” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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