potshot

Definition

A shot taken at an easy or random target.

Etymology

From pot + shot. 1858, shot taken for the (cooking) pot, namely for food; see pothunter. Sense “opportunistic criticism” from 1926. Sense “drunk” from obsolete pot (“cup used for drinking liquor”).

Example Sentences

• "to take a potshot at"
• "Bannister leaped up, ran lightly across the intervening space, and with his repeater took a potshot at the galloping horseman."
• "He takes his share of potshots (mostly at the Da Vinci surgical robot), but the conscience of the film is in the stories of Essure, a procedure marketed to women as a hassle-free alternative to tubal ligation"