shot with a shovel

adjective

Severely admonished; castigated.

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Meanings

adjectiveshot with a shovel (not comparable)
  1. Irelandnot comparableSeverely admonished; castigated.

    I'll kill him for leaving you here all on your own. He should be shot with a shovel for thinking it's right to go off and leave you ...

    2009, Cathy Kelly, What She Wants, page 490
    2 more examples

    I don't approve of petticoat government, as a general thing, but I'll be shot with a shovel if it ain't necessary with fellows like Stanhope!

    1867 February 16, Sarah Johnson Cogswell Whittlesey, “Bertha the beauty: A story of the southern revolution”, in The Field and Fireside, page 2

    I'm probably going to be shot with a shovel for this but I've always thought 1972's "Ziggy Stardust" was a lesser album than 1971's "Hunky Dory" – but personal opinions aside - you can't argue that the 2012 Remaster isn’t anything but a wonder.

    2015 September, Mark Barry, “David Bowie - Five Years 1969-1973”, in Vine Voice
Cite this entry
APA

shot with a shovel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shot%20with%20a%20shovel

MLA

“shot with a shovel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shot%20with%20a%20shovel. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shot with a shovel,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shot%20with%20a%20shovel.

Source: shot with a shovel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.