with both barrels

with both barrels

With great intensity or aggression. The phrase is a reference to double-barreled firearms. You have to know that she's going to come at us with both barrels if we fire her, so just be prepared. The team looked a bit lackluster in their first game, but they seem to be playing with both barrels tonight.

See also: barrel, both

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

both barrels, with

With full force, as in When I scolded her for stealing, I let her have it with both barrels. This term alludes to firing with both barrels of a double-barreled shotgun. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

See also: both

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

with both barrels

with unrestrained force or emotion. informal

The barrels in question are the two barrels of a firearm.

See also: barrel, both

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017