Word.ws English Dictionary

shot in the arm

shot in the arm noun: an injection of a drug into the arm, whether for medical or recreational purposes.

Noun

shot in the arm (plural shots in the arm)

  1. An injection of a drug into the arm, whether for medical or recreational purposes.
  2. (broadly) A stimulus; a boost in energy, morale, or well-being.
    • By that agreement, President Roosevelt in 1941 gave Canada's war industry a shot in the arm.1944 May 1, “Canada at War: Net Profit”, in Time, retrieved 31 Jan 2017
    • Renzo Piano's skyscraper, which will be Europe's tallest building, may provide a shot in the arm for London.2011 December 30, Robert Booth, “London's Shard: a 'tower of power and riches' looking down on poverty”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 31 Jan 2017

Examples of shot in the arm in a sentence

  • The president claims the economy needs a shot in the arm now, but Republicans say the nation should not widen the deficit.2012 December 4, Annie Lowrey, “Republicans Balk at Short-Term Stimulus in Obama Plan”, in New York Times, retrieved 31 Jan 2017:
  • It was a shot in the arm for two reasons.2018 April 28, Dorian Lynskey, quoting James McGrory, “‘It’s not a done deal’: inside the battle to stop Brexit”, in The Guardian:

Forms of shot in the arm

pluralshots in the arm

Questions about shot in the arm

What does shot in the arm mean?
Shot in the arm means an injection of a drug into the arm, whether for medical or recreational purposes.
How do you use shot in the arm in a sentence?
The president claims the economy needs a shot in the arm now, but Republicans say the nation should not widen the deficit.
What part of speech is shot in the arm?
Shot in the arm is a noun.
What is the plural of shot in the arm?
The plural of shot in the arm is shots in the arm.

Words near shot in the arm in the dictionary

  1. shot glasses
  2. shot heard 'round the world
  3. shot heard round the world
  4. shot holes
  5. shot in one's locker
  6. shot in the arm
  7. shot in the dark
  8. shot in the locker
  9. shot list
  10. shot lists
  11. shot noise

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shot in the arm (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-shot in the arm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “shot in the arm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shot_in_the_arm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.