Chicago lightning

noun

Bullets; gunfire.

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Meanings

nounChicago lightning (uncountable)
  1. USdatedslanguncountableBullets; gunfire.

    He said: "Thanks, friend; but you're wasting your time. You better warn Crocker. If that louse makes a play for me, he'll get hit with Chicago lightning!"

    1946, Joseph Thompson Shaw, The hard-boiled omnibus: early stories from Black Mask, page 388
Cite this entry
APA

Chicago lightning. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chicago%20lightning

MLA

“Chicago lightning.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chicago%20lightning. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Chicago lightning,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chicago%20lightning.

Source: Chicago lightning on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.