warning shot
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.50 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A shot fired as a warning.
Example Sentences
- "[…] As it happened, she did. The complete absence of heavenly bodies in the Nevermeant had given her no end of time to spend on other esoteric subjects. The Black Lord recited what it saw, and when it was done, the astronomer recited the message back. "CHANGE YOUR WAYS. THIS IS A WARNING SHOT." A beam of intense energy arced from the aperture, which vanished in the instant before a glowing red hole was punched through the Black Lord's forehead. It fell to the observatory tiles, bleeding black blood and melted porcelain, gurgling softly."
- "I believe that most members of Congress interpreted these ads as a warning shot rather than an effective grass roots mobilization tool."