ride shotgun

Verb

ride shotgun (third-person singular simple present rides shotgun, present participle riding shotgun, simple past rode shotgun, past participle ridden shotgun)

1. (US, idiomatic) To accompany the driver of a vehicle on a journey as an armed escort (originally with a shotgun); (by extension) to accompany someone in order to assist and protect.
   • He attended the meeting to ride shotgun for the sales team, in case anyone had a technical question.
   • Wyatt and Morgan Earp were in the service of the Express Company. They went often as guards—"riding shotgun," it was called—when the stage bore unusual treasure.1905 April, Alfred Henry Lewis, “The Worries of Mr. Holiday”, in The Sunset Trail, New York, N.Y.: A[lfred] S[mith] Barnes & Co., →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company...
2. (US, broadly, idiomatic, slang) To ride in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
   • When both kids want to ride shotgun with Mom, they’ll just have to take turns.
   • This is the classic children's theatre touring vehicle, with just enough seating space for four actors (who traditionally fight like five-year-olds about who gets to ride shotgun) and the stage manager, who gets to drive.1999, H. Mel Malton, chapter 8, in Cue the Dead Guy (A Polly Deacon Murder Mystery), Toronto, Ont.: Napoleon Publishing/RendezVous Press, →ISBN, page 59
3. (US, broadly, idiomatic, slang) To supervise a process and watch for any risks.
   • He has ridden shotgun over Hunt's financial affairs since Hunt was a baby in business, ascending to the head chair on the board that governs the Chiefs and the Hunt Midwest Enterprises empire of mining and real estate development.1997, Michael McKenzie, chapter 1, in Arrowhead: Home of the Chiefs, Lenexa, Kan.: Addax Pub. Group, →ISBN, page 16
   • Thank you also to Stacey Ammerman, who rode shotgun on the technical editing end of this book to make sure everything you read is easy to understand and actually works the way it is supposed to.2005 December, Gail Perry, “Acknowledgements”, in Show Me!: Quickbooks 2006 (Show Me!), Indianapolis, Ind.: Que Publications, →ISBN, page iii