Wiktionary
n. A sawn-off shotgun
WordNet
n. a shotgun with short barrels
Wikipedia
A sawed-off shotgun ( US, CAN) also called a sawn-off shotgun ( UK, IRL, AU, NZ) and a short-barreled shotgun (SBS) (U.S. legislative terminology), is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under 18 inches—and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, barrels do not, strictly speaking, have to be shortened with a saw. Barrels can be manufactured at shorter lengths as an alternative to traditional, longer barrels. This makes them easier to transport due to their smaller profile and lighter weight. Additionally, they make for popular guns for backpackers or campers, especially with regard to animal defense. The design also makes the weapon easy to maneuver in cramped spaces, a feature sought by military close quarters combat units, law enforcement SWAT team users, and home defense purposes. With modern pump action/magazine tube shotguns, the shorter barrel limits the magazine capacity of the weapon due to the magazine tube protruding beyond the barrel. Therefore the magazine tubes are matched in length to the barrel, which causes a reduction in the number of shells that can be held in the magazine tube.
In the 1930s, the United States, Britain and Canada mandated that a proper permit is required to own these firearms. They are subject to legal restrictions depending upon jurisdiction. They also are in use by military forces and police agencies worldwide.
Usage examples of "sawed-off shotgun".
He remembered too, with a sense of shock, that a sawed-off shotgun was aimed at them from inside the window.
Stealthily he set down the tools and picked up a sawed-off shotgun.
I just sawed off the barrels so it wouldn't look like some kind of sporting gun you see in the Sears catalog, but would look like a sawed-off shotgun, which it is now.
But he associates a sawed-off shotgun with gangster movies, and he's afraid of it.
Then she looked down and saw what a sawed-off shotgun does to a human body at close range.
He tucked the sawed-off shotgun under a nearby shrub and took the riot gun.
The man with the sawed-off shotgun kept the muzzle so close to Jimmy's nose that he could smell the oil.
After staring down a sawed-off shotgun the last time I came to the bar, I might not have stood facing front at that black door.
Id left home without a warrant, so my sawed-off shotgun was at home with my stakes and machete.