parting shot

noun

An insult or barbed comment issued as the speaker departs or the conversation comes to an end.

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Meanings

nounparting shot (plural parting shots)

plural parting shots

  1. idiomaticAn insult or barbed comment issued as the speaker departs or the conversation comes to an end.

    Gold Coast Deputy Mayor David Power took a parting shot at the Crime and Misconduct Commission and his council enemies as he announced his bombshell resignation today.

    2007 September 18, Greg Stolz, “Power's parting shot at enemies”, in Courier-Mail, Australia
    1 more example

    22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club Cabin Boyhttps://web.archive.org/web/20131029005716/http://www.avclub.com/articles/cabin-boy,71269/ When news arrives that the school must graduate Nathanial to official “Fancy Lad” status early and put him on the Queen Catherine first class to run the Mayweather in Hawaii, the headmaster dutifully complies, but Nathanial gets in a few parting shots on his way out the door.

Origin

Believed to be a variation of Parthian shot, referring to a military maneuver in which Parthian troops retreating on horseback turned back to face the enemy and shot while retreating.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish loppulaukaus, viimeinen sivallus
  • loppulaukausTranslations
  • viimeinen sivallusTranslations
French flèche du Parthe
  • flèche du PartheTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: parting shot on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.