warning shot

plural warning shots

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: A shot fired as a warning.

   1 more example

   […] As it happened, she did. The complete absence of heavenly bodies in the Nevermeant had given her no end of time to spend on other esoteric subjects. The Black Lord recited what it saw, and when it was done, the astronomer recited the message back. "CHANGE YOUR WAYS. THIS IS A WARNING SHOT." A beam of intense energy arced from the aperture, which vanished in the instant before a glowing red hole was punched through the Black Lord's forehead. It fell to the observatory tiles, bleeding black blood and melted porcelain, gurgling softly.

   2021 July 1, Placeholder McD, HarryBlank, “SCP-6500 [offset 13]”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2023, The Shrouded Mirador

2. broadlyfigurativelyAn action intended to act as a warning.

   I believe that most members of Congress interpreted these ads as a warning shot rather than an effective grass roots mobilization tool.

   2005, J. H. Snider, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power, →ISBN, page 487

   Synonyms: shot across the bow, shot across the bows