Meaning of shot caller | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Someone in charge, especially the leader of a street gang.
   slang
2. A prison inmate who holds informal authority over other inmates and who masterminds criminal activity.
   US, slang

Examples

“Antonio Ramirez,^([sic]) is a shot caller (a leader) of the A Street gang, a powerful criminal organization in the southern part of the state.”

“[…] the CDC's campaign to isolate other "shot callers" in its new generation of super maximum security prisons.”

“A hotbed for fights and race riots has long been California's Pitchess Detention Center, a Los Angeles County prison. These battles are masterminded by tattooed gang leaders called shot callers.”

“People already knew me from the streets, so when the previous shot caller was transferred to a different state prison, a leadership vacuum was created. I was asked to fill it. One of the shot callers' responsibilities was to control the shanks within the prison population—the crude homemade knives used for stabbing another prisoner.”

CEFR level