Chekhov's gun

Proper noun

Chekhov's gun

1. A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.
   • It seems like a violation of Chekhov’s gun rule to put Naomi Campbell in the first act and not have her throw a phone at someone in the third. (She tore up a check instead.)2015 March 19, Alessandra Stanley, “'Empire' Finale Review: A Sizzling End to Season One”, in New York Times
   • An on-screen pill bottle works like Chekhov’s gun: Eventually, its contents will be fired at an actor’s mouth, or smashed between his lips, or hurled into his gullet.2023 May 1, Daniel Engber, “No One in Movies Knows How to Swallow a Pill”, in The Atlantic
2. An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.
   • The episode of the sun-god's island is the Odyssey's equivalent of Chekhov's gun, announced in the poem's earliest lines as the occasion of the companions' downfall and anticipated ever since.2005, John Miles Foley, A companion to ancient epic, →ISBN, page 324
   • He is Chekhov's gun on the wall, destined to go off at the crucial moment.2007, John Updike, Due considerations: essays and criticism, →ISBN, page 336