shooting gallery

noun

1. a place equipped with targets and used for practice in shooting.
2. Slang. a place where drug addicts can buy and inject themselves with narcotic drugs.

shooting gallery

noun

1. an area, often enclosed, designed for target practice, shooting, etc
2. slang.
   a house where heroin addicts inject themselves

Word History and Origins

Origin of shooting gallery¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Of course, this is very dangerous thinking, regardless of how straight Jack Reacher’s aim may be in the moral universe's shooting gallery.

From Salon

Rxd3, and White’s pawns will prove sitting ducks in a shooting gallery for Black’s rook.

From Washington Times

It’s so steep and narrow in places that falling rock and ice can turn the canyon into a “shooting gallery,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

So was he going to try hitting a Putin target at the shooting gallery?

From New York Times

As the last Ukrainian soldiers were driven into an ever smaller area near the western entrance of the city, the Russian military turned what was once a thriving residential neighborhood into a shooting gallery.

From New York Times