Language: en
Meaning: (chieflyUS)Ahuntorhuntingcompetition, usingriflesorshotguns, in whichwildturkeysare theprey; amarksmanshipcontestin which a turkey is the prize.1913,B. M. Bower, chapter 3, inThe Uphill Climb:Behind his barricade of barrels, Sam heard and shivered like a gun-shy collie at aturkey shoot.1919,William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, inA Man Four-Square:[H]e had seen a thirteen-year-old boy named Jim Clanton win aturkey shootagainst the best marksmen of the hill country.2009February 25, “Boy held in Pa. killing to go to juvenile facility”, inUSA Today, retrieved16 July 2012:Debbie Houk said Jordan, a hunter, knew a lot about guns and was a good shot. On Valentine's Day, he beat out many older and more experienced hunters at aturkey shoot. "I'll never cook that turkey. It's the same gun that killed my daughter," she said.; (idiomatic,by extension)A situation in which numerousweaponsaredischargedagainst prey,opponents, orvictimswho have little ability to protect or defend themselves.1960July 11, “Aviation: The Embattled Farmer”, inTime:In the Battle of the Marianas, which pilots called "theturkey shoot," they downed 360 Japanese planes in a single day, the record bag of the war.1991April 14,Leslie H. Gelb, “Foreign Affairs: White House Guilt?”, inNew York Times, retrieved16 July 2012:Almost everyone argued that it would be inhumane for Americans to engage in aturkey shootagainst fleeing Iraqi soldiers.2009Nov. 15, Mike Higgins, "Andrew Marr: The Making of Modern Britain, BBC2(TV review),"The Independent(UK)(retrieved 16 July 2012):The U-boats, for instance, had a stranglehold on the merchant shipping supplying Britain, and it was thought that a convoy system would turn into aturkey shoot.; (idiomatic,by extension)Anunequalcompetitivesituation in which one party easilydefeatsthe other(s).1968November 17, Bob Monahan, “Delaware Thrashes B.U. 41-13”, inBoston Globe, retrieved16 July 2012, page71:The University of Delaware Blue Hens had themselves aturkey shoothere Saturday at Delaware Stadium as they humbled Boston University, 41-13, before 10,350.2011June 28, Chris McGrath,Tennis: ‘Devastated’ Williams sisters rue double loss,"The Independent(UK)(retrieved 16 July 2012):Their exit from the tournament, without a set between them yesterday, at least demonstrated that the women's game is not quite theturkey shootit might have seemed.
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