shoot the breeze
To chat idly or generally waste time talking.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“We sat on the porch and shot the breeze for hours.”
“While waiting for the delayed flight, the two strangers shot the breeze about their favorite vacation spots.”
“The old friends, reunited after decades, spent the entire evening shooting the breeze, their idle chatter masking the unspoken weight of years apart.”
first recorded 20th c.
The phrase was first recorded in 1919 as a slang allusion to the act of talking into the wind. It was preceded by a 1908 variant, shoot the bull, in which the latter term referred to empty talk or lies.
- 01
bat the breeze
To chat; to shoot the breeze.
- 02
shoot 'em up
A piece of media which depicts considerable gunplay.
- 03
shoot down
To criticize (a request) to the point of preclusion.
- 04
shoot first and ask questions later
To take hasty, immediate action with serious consequences, without first adequately investigating the situation.
- 05
shoot from the lip
To speak confidently and unhesitantly but without careful forethought or a reliable knowledge of important facts pertaining to the subject matter.
- 06
shoot holes
Find faults.
- 07
shoot off
To do (something, usually a written or verbal communication) quickly, and without hesitation or forethought.
- 08
shoot off at the mouth
To boast, or brag, or talk too much.
Last updated August 10, 2026