run-and-gun

adjective

ˈrən-ən(d)-ˈgən

: relating to or being a fast, freewheeling style of play in basketball that de-emphasizes set plays and defense

Examples of run-and-gun in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Mass Effect trilogy, which began in 2007, married the wordy dialogue trees of role-playing games with run-and-gun gameplay, a formula that many other studios have attempted to copy, but few ever match its scale. — Washington Post, 21 Oct. 2026 The Canucks are in the infancy of their rebuild, so a pair of run-and-gun games made sense. — Janson Duench, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Some items were smashed and shattered when the museum’s grounds became a run-and-gun battlefield. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026 The up-tempo, run-and-gun offense made the team Hollywood stars, helped furnish The Forum with five championship banners and pushed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the top of the all-time scoring list. — Matthew Rodriguez, CBS News, 17 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for run-and-gun

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of run-and-gun was in 1960

See more words from the same year

Browse Nearby Words

run along

run-and-gun

run-and-shoot

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Run-and-gun.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run-and-gun. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

run-and-gun

adjective

Examples of run-and-gun in a Sentence

Word History

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

shindig

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes