ENGLISH
REFERENCE

shoot the breeze

idiom
Meaning

To chat idly or generally waste time talking.


Origin

first recorded 20th c.

A slang phrase, alluding to talking into the wind, and first recorded in 1919. In the variant, first recorded in 1908, the word bull is used instead of breeze, and means empty talk or lies.

Examples
SIMPLE

We sat on the porch and shot the breeze for hours.

CONTEXTUAL

While waiting for the delayed flight, the two strangers shot the breeze about their favorite vacation spots.

COMPLEX

The old friends, reunited after decades, spent the entire evening shooting the breeze, their idle chatter masking the unspoken weight of years apart.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    bat the breeze

    To chat; to shoot the breeze.

  2. 02

    shoot 'em up

    A piece of media which depicts considerable gunplay.

  3. 03

    shoot down

    To criticize (a request) to the point of preclusion.

  4. 04

    shoot first and ask questions later

    To take hasty, immediate action with serious consequences, without first adequately investigating the situation.

  5. 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.

  6. 06

    shoot holes

    Find faults.

  7. 07

    shoot off

    To do (something, usually a written or verbal communication) quickly, and without hesitation or forethought.

  8. 08

    shoot off at the mouth

    To boast, or brag, or talk too much.

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