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Meaning & use

crap shoot

noun·Advancedinformal

Last updated

UK/ˈkræp ʃuːt/
US/ˈkræp ʃuːt/

Meanings

  1. nounsingularinformal

    A situation or plan whose result depends on luck and cannot be predicted or controlled.

    Grammar: Usually follows an or is the complement of be: choosing a stock is a crap shoot.

    Patterns

    • it is a crap shoot
    • something is a crap shoot

    Predicting which startup will succeed is a bit of a crap shoot.

    With so many unknowns, the whole trip felt like a crap shoot.

    Getting a good seat at that restaurant is a crap shoot on weekends.

  2. nouncountableAmerican

    A game of craps, played by throwing dice and betting on the result.

    Grammar: Also spelled crapshoot; mainly American.

    Patterns

    • play a crap shoot

    The men ran a crap shoot behind the old warehouse.

    He lost his wages in a crap shoot on Saturday night.

    They joined a crap shoot at the casino.

Word forms

pluralcrap shoots

Common combinations

a bit of a crap shoot
Booking flights in winter is a bit of a crap shoot.
total crap shoot
The election result was a total crap shoot.
treat it as a crap shoot
Just treat the interview as a crap shoot and relax.
a crap shoot at best
Picking a roommate online is a crap shoot at best.

Synonyms and how they differ

gamble
Gamble is neutral and can describe a deliberate risk, whereas crap shoot stresses that the outcome is pure luck.
lottery
Lottery is used figuratively for any chance-based result and sounds a little less casual than crap shoot.
toss-up
A toss-up means two outcomes are equally likely, while a crap shoot may involve many possible outcomes.
roll of the dice
A roll of the dice describes the single risky act, while a crap shoot describes the situation as a whole.

Opposites

sure thingcertainty

Word family

craps noun
a dice game where players bet on the outcome of throws
crapshoot noun
one-word spelling used by many writers
shooter noun
the player who throws the dice in craps

Commonly confused: crap shoot or shoot-out?

crap shoot vs shoot-out

A shoot-out is a gun fight or a tie-breaking contest, not a chance event.

Practice

We had no data at all, so choosing the winning bid was a total ____.

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