shooting the moon
Taking all hearts
Shooting the moon means attempting something extremely ambitious or risky, often with an all-or-nothing quality.
The phrase comes from the card game Hearts, where a player who captures all penalty cards—normally disastrous—instead scores zero while opponents take maximum points.
The gambit requires running the table: She's shooting the moon with this startup.
In British slang, shooting the moon once meant fleeing at night to avoid paying rent.
- trick-takingWinning dealt card rounds
- queen of spadesHighest-ranking female spade
- gambleStake on uncertain outcome
- penalty cardsReferee's discipline indicators
- riskPossibility of harm
aim · sky · Hearts · card game · trick · queen · competitive play · boldness · audacity · calculated risk · scoring · moonshot · high stakes · high risk high reward · card · sweep · run the table · daring
- heartsheart shape, heart icon, heart emoji, red heart, heart symbol
shooting the moonplaying it safe
Avoiding unnecessary risk
hedging one's bets · risk aversion · erring on the side of caution · damage control · half measures
shooting the moonlowering one's sights
Accepting a lesser goal
settling · underachieving · satisficing · coasting · mediocrity
shooting the moonsettling
Reaching resolution or rest
satisficing · going through the motions · phoning it in · bare minimum · settling for less
shoot, shoots, shooter, shooters, shot, shots, moon, moons, mooned