Meaning & use
shot across the bows
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
A warning or first sign that stronger action may follow if someone does not change what they are doing.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: you can say 'a shot across the bows' or 'another shot across the bows'.
Patterns
- a shot across the bows for someone
- fire a shot across the bows
- be seen as a shot across the bows
The fine was a shot across the bows for companies that ignore safety rules.
Many saw the minister's speech as a shot across the bows to the unions.
If they do nothing, the next letter will be a shot across the bows.
Common combinations
- a shot across the bows for someone
- The ruling is a shot across the bows for anyone selling fake goods online.
- fire a shot across the bows
- The regulator fired a shot across the bows by publishing the list of failures.
- another shot across the bows
- Taxing the bonus was another shot across the bows from the government.
- be seen as a shot across the bows
- The delay was seen as a shot across the bows to the contractor.
- send a shot across the bows
- The email was meant to send a shot across the bows, not to end the deal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- warning
- The general word for telling someone about possible trouble; the idiom is more dramatic and suggests a deliberate, public signal.
- caution
- A caution is advice to be careful, often official, while the idiom points to a first act that hints at punishment to come.
- ultimatum
- An ultimatum is a final demand with a threat attached; a shot across the bows is usually an early hint, not the last chance.
Word family
- warning shot noun
- A shot fired to warn rather than to hit, and also a figurative first warning.
Commonly confused: shot across the bows or shot in the dark? shot across the bows or bow?
shot across the bows vs shot in the dark
A shot in the dark is a guess made with little information, which has nothing to do with giving a warning.
shot across the bows vs bow
The singular 'bow' is the front of a ship or a bend of the body; the idiom always uses the plural 'bows' and is spelled without an 'h'.
Practice
The company's decision to freeze pay was ______ to the staff that worse could follow.
Choose one answer.
'A shot across the bows' means a warning that stronger action may come, which fits the idea of worse things following. 'A shot in the arm' means something that gives encouragement, and 'a long shot' means something with little chance of success, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shot across the bows”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.