a wedding occasioned or precipitated by pregnancy.
2.
Informal. a compromise, merger, accord, etc., occasioned by necessity:
The coalition government was obviously a shotgun wedding.
Also, shotgun marriage.
Origin
1925-30, Americanism
British Dictionary definitions for shotgun wedding
shotgun wedding
noun
1.
(informal) a wedding into which one or both partners are coerced, usually because the woman is pregnant
Contemporary definitions for shotgun wedding
noun
a marriage of necessity, often hurried due to pregnancy; also, a marriage that is part of a deal or accord; also called shotgun marriage
Slang definitions & phrases for shotgun wedding
shotgun wedding
noun phrase
A wedding under duress, esp when the bride is pregnant; a forced marriage; military wedding(1927+)
Idioms and Phrases with shotgun wedding
Shotgun wedding
An agreement or compromise made through necessity, as in Since neither side won a majority, the coalition government was obviously a shotgun wedding. This expression alludes to a marriage precipitated by a woman's pregnancy, causing her father to point a literal or figurative gun at the responsible man's head. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.