Definition

1. Noun:
   • An enclosed firing range with targets for rifle or handgun practice: A facility designed for the safe practice of shooting firearms at stationary targets.
   • A building (usually abandoned) where drug addicts buy and use heroin: A slang term for a derelict location used as a gathering place for illicit drug consumption, specifically heroin.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Firing Range):

  • He goes to the shooting gallery every weekend to improve his marksmanship.
  • The police academy has a state-of-the-art indoor shooting gallery.

• Noun (Drug Use Location):

  • The abandoned warehouse was known to be a shooting gallery for local addicts.
  • Authorities raided the suspected shooting gallery and made several arrests.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used metaphorically to describe any chaotic situation where people are under fire or attack, though this is less common.
  • The political debate turned into a verbal shooting gallery, with candidates attacking each other relentlessly.

Variants and Related Words

• Gallery: A room or building for the display or sale of works of art. This is the root word, but "shooting gallery" has a distinct, specialized meaning.
• Firing range: A more formal and direct synonym for the first definition.
• Shooting range: A common alternative term for a practice facility.

Synonyms

• For the firing range: Target range, practice range, gun range.
• For the drug use location: Drug den, crack house (though "crack house" specifically implies crack cocaine).

Related Phrases

• Like a shooting gallery: An idiomatic phrase used to describe a scene of rapid, repeated attacks or chaotic activity.
  • During the battle, the street was like a shooting gallery.

Notes on Meaning

• The meaning is entirely dependent on context. The primary, non-slang definition refers to a legal, recreational, or training facility. The secondary, slang definition refers to an illegal and dangerous activity location.
• It is crucial to distinguish between these two meanings to avoid significant misunderstanding.

Noun

1. an enclosed firing range with targets for rifle or handgun practice
2. a building (usually abandoned) where drug addicts buy and use heroin