Under the gun

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Meaning

Under strong pressure, attack or an urgent deadline. The expression is informal and especially common in North American English.

Origin

The figurative expression is American and belongs to the early 20th century. It evokes literal coercion by a firearm, but no specific incident or inventor has been established. Reference works differ on the earliest date, placing the pressure sense around 1900 or in the 1920s, so a precise first use should not be asserted without a dated primary citation. The later poker use, for the first player required to act in a betting round, is a specialized sense rather than the source of the general idiom.

Research Sources

  1. under the gun Merriam-Webster
  2. be under the gun Cambridge University Press
  3. under the gun Dictionary.com / American Heritage Idioms Dictionary

Variants

  • Be under the gun

Usage Examples

  • The engineering team is under the gun to restore the service before trading begins.
  • With the filing deadline tomorrow, both solicitors are under the gun.
  • The minister came under the gun after auditors published the missing expenditure figures.

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