ride shotgun

== English == === Etymology === Possibly from early-20th-century depictions in books and films of the 19th-century practice of a person armed with a rifle or shotgun riding next to a stagecoach driver to provide protection from bandits, etc. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɹaɪd ˈʃɒtɡʌn/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌɹaɪd ˈʃɑtɡʌn/ Hyphenation: ride shot‧gun === Verb === ride shotgun (third-person singular simple present rides shotgun, present participle riding shotgun, simple past rode shotgun, past participle ridden shotgun) (US, idiomatic) To accompany the driver of a vehicle on a journey as an armed escort (originally with a shotgun); (by extension) to accompany someone in order to assist and protect. (US, idiomatic, by extension, slang) To ride in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver. (US, idiomatic, by extension, slang) To supervise a process and watch for any risks. ==== Coordinate terms ==== ride bitch ride pillion ==== Related terms ==== shotgun ==== Translations ==== === Notes === === References === === Further reading === riding shotgun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “to ride shotgun, phrase” under “ride, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2010. “ride shotgun, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “shotgun”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.