shotgun marriage

Definitions

1. A marriage beginning with (or resulting from) a shotgun wedding.
   countable
2. A shotgun wedding itself.
   countable
3. Such marriages, or such weddings, taken collectively.
   uncountable
4. Used figuratively.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“It is essential for us to win⟳ back the rights of teenagers to prevent⟳ the state from using […] the denial of reproductive control⟳ to channel young women into shotgun marriages, into unwanted familial responsibilities and into dead end⟳ streets.”

“Others explained that a forced marriage was likely to end⟳ in an early divorce, so that the child would suffer⟳ more in a shotgun marriage than if born out of wedlock.”

CEFR level