Shot, n.; pl. Shotor Shots
 1. The act of shooting; discharge of a firearm or other weapon which throws a missile.
    He caused twenty shot of his greatest cannon to be made at the king's army.   --Clarendon.
 2. A missile weapon, particularly a ball or bullet; specifically, whatever is discharged as a projectile from firearms or cannon by the force of an explosive.
 Note: ☞ Shot used in war is of various kinds, classified according to the material of which it is composed, into lead, wrought-iron, and cast-iron; according to form, into spherical and oblong; according to structure and modes of operation, into solid, hollow, and case. See Bar shot, Chain shot, etc., under Bar, Chain, etc.
 3. Small globular masses of lead, of various sizes, -- used chiefly as the projectiles in shotguns for killing game; as, bird shot; buckshot.
 4. The flight of a missile, or the distance which it is, or can be, thrown; as, the vessel was distant more than a cannon shot.
 5. A marksman; one who practices shooting; as, an exellent shot.
 6. Fisheries (a) A cast of a net. (b) The entire throw of nets at one time. (c) A place or spot for setting nets. (d) A single draft or catch of fish made.
 7.  Athletics A spherical weight, to be put, or thrown, in competition for distance.
 8.  A stroke, throw, or other action to propel a ball or other game piece in certain games, as in billiards, hockey, basketball, curling, etc.; also, a move, as in chess.
 9.  A guess; conjecture; also, an attempt. [Colloq.] “I'll take a shot at it.”
 Shot belt, a belt having a pouch or compartment for carrying shot.
 Shot cartridge, a cartridge containing powder and small shot, forming a charge for a shotgun.
 Shot garland Naut., a wooden frame to contain shot, secured to the coamings and ledges round the hatchways of a ship.
 Shot gauge, an instrument for measuring the diameter of round shot. --Totten.
 shot hole, a hole made by a shot or bullet discharged.
 Shot locker Naut., a strongly framed compartment in the hold of a vessel, for containing shot.
 Shot of a cable Naut., the splicing of two or more cables together, or the whole length of the cables thus united.
 Shot prop Naut., a wooden prop covered with tarred hemp, to stop a hole made by the shot of an enemy in a ship's side.
 Shot tower, a lofty tower for making shot, by dropping from its summit melted lead in slender streams. The lead forms spherical drops which cool in the descent, and are received in water or other liquid.
 Shot window, a window projecting from the wall. Ritson, quoted by Halliwell, explains it as a window that opens and shuts; and Wodrow describes it as a window of shutters made of timber and a few inches of glass above them.


 Stang, n.
 1. A long bar; a pole; a shaft; a stake.
 2. In land measure, a pole, rod, or perch. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
 Stang ball, a projectile consisting of two half balls united by a bar; a bar shot. See Illust. of Bar shot, under Bar.
 To ride the stang, to be carried on a pole on men's shoulders. This method of punishing wife beaters, etc., was once in vogue in some parts of England.


 Bar n.
 1. A piece of wood, metal, or other material, long in proportion to its breadth or thickness, used as a lever and for various other purposes, but especially for a hindrance, obstruction, or fastening; as, the bars of a fence or gate; the bar of a door.
    Thou shalt make bars of shittim wood.   --Ex. xxvi. 26.
 2. An indefinite quantity of some substance, so shaped as to be long in proportion to its breadth and thickness; as, a bar of gold or of lead; a bar of soap.
 3. Anything which obstructs, hinders, or prevents; an obstruction; a barrier.
    Must I new bars to my own joy create?   --Dryden.
 4. A bank of sand, gravel, or other matter, esp. at the mouth of a river or harbor, obstructing navigation.
 5. Any railing that divides a room, or office, or hall of assembly, in order to reserve a space for those having special privileges; as, the bar of the House of Commons.
 6. Law (a) The railing that incloses the place which counsel occupy in courts of justice. Hence, the phrase at the bar of the court signifies in open court. (b) The place in court where prisoners are stationed for arraignment, trial, or sentence. (c) The whole body of lawyers licensed in a court or district; the legal profession. (d) A special plea constituting a sufficient answer to plaintiff's action.
 7. Any tribunal; as, the bar of public opinion; the bar of God.
 8. A barrier or counter, over which liquors and food are passed to customers; hence, the portion of the room behind the counter where liquors for sale are kept.
 9. Her. An ordinary, like a fess but narrower, occupying only one fifth part of the field.
 10. A broad shaft, or band, or stripe; as, a bar of light; a bar of color.
 11. Mus. A vertical line across the staff. Bars divide the staff into spaces which represent measures, and are themselves called measures.
 Note: ☞ A double bar marks the end of a strain or main division of a movement, or of a whole piece of music; in psalmody, it marks the end of a line of poetry. The term bar is very often loosely used for measure, i.e., for such length of music, or of silence, as is included between one bar and the next; as, a passage of eight bars; two bars' rest.
 12. Far. pl. (a) The space between the tusks and grinders in the upper jaw of a horse, in which the bit is placed. (b) The part of the crust of a horse's hoof which is bent inwards towards the frog at the heel on each side, and extends into the center of the sole.
 13. Mining (a) A drilling or tamping rod. (b) A vein or dike crossing a lode.
 14. Arch. (a) A gatehouse of a castle or fortified town. (b) A slender strip of wood which divides and supports the glass of a window; a sash bar.
 Bar shoe Far., a kind of horseshoe having a bar across the usual opening at the heel, to protect a tender frog from injury.
 Bar shot, a double headed shot, consisting of a bar, with a ball or half ball at each end; -- formerly used for destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat.
 Bar sinister Her., a term popularly but erroneously used for baton, a mark of illegitimacy. See Baton.
 Bar tracery Arch., ornamental stonework resembling bars of iron twisted into the forms required.
 Blank bar Law. See Blank.
 Case at bar Law, a case presently before the court; a case under argument.
 In bar of, as a sufficient reason against; to prevent.
 Matter in bar, or Defence in bar, any matter which is a final defense in an action.
 Plea in bar, a plea which goes to bar or defeat the plaintiff's action absolutely and entirely.
 Trial at bar Eng. Law, a trial before all the judges of one the superior courts of Westminster, or before a quorum representing the full court.