gunfights
Exchanges of fire
Gunfights is the plural of gunfight—a battle or duel between people with guns.
The word evokes the Old West, where lawmen and outlaws supposedly settled disputes in the street: The movie climaxed with a gunfight at high noon.
Modern usage extends to any armed exchange of fire: The robbery ended in a gunfight with police.
Ranch hands tending herds
- outlawsFugitives from justice
- sheriffCounty's chief officer
- saloonDrinking establishment, often frontier
- frontierEdge of settlement
six-shooter · revolver · bandits · posse · horseback · desperado · stagecoach · bounty hunter
Combat engagement area
- infantryGround combat troops
- assaultViolent offensive act
- ambushSurprise strike from concealment
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
skirmish · engagement · firefight · suppressing fire · flanking · cover · breach · extraction
Organized criminal groups
- robberyTheft through intimidation
- homicideCausing another's death
- drive-byAttack from passing vehicle
- cartelPrice-fixing coalition
turf war · heist · getaway · shootout · police · standoff · hostage · organized crime
Process of doing
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- stuntsDangerous performed feats
- slow-motionPlayback below normal speed
- pyrotechnicsArt of explosive displays
choreography · squibs · blanks · John Woo · spaghetti western · blockbuster · hero · villain
cowboys
Ranch hands tending herds
- outlawsFugitives from justice
- sheriffCounty's chief officer
- saloonDrinking establishment, often frontier
frontier · six-shooter · revolver · bandits · posse · horseback · desperado · stagecoach · bounty hunter · holster
battlefield
Combat engagement area
warfare · skirmish · engagement · firefight · suppressing fire · flanking · cover · breach · extraction · reconnaissance
gangs
Organized criminal groups
cartel · turf war · heist · getaway · shootout · police · standoff · hostage · organized crime · drug war
action
Process of doing
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- stuntsDangerous performed feats
- slow-motionPlayback below normal speed
pyrotechnics · choreography · squibs · blanks · John Woo · spaghetti western · blockbuster · hero · villain · climax
- Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
- Action Moviesaction movies, action films, action scenes, action stars, explosions
- media violenceviolent imagery, content warnings, age restrictions, parental controls, V-chip
gunfightsfistfights
Hand-to-hand combat encounters
hand-to-hand combat · melee combat · knife fights · sword fights · unarmed combat
gunfightspeace talks
Formal conflict-resolution discussions
negotiations · diplomacy · mediation · arbitration · truces
- bring a knife to a gunfightArrive fatally underprepared
- bringing a knife to a gunfightDisastrously underprepared for confrontation
- brought a knife to a gunfightDisastrously underprepared for conflict
- take a knife to a gunfightArrive fatally underprepared