top guns
Highest ranking officers
Top guns are the best performers in a competitive field, especially elite fighter pilots.
The term evokes supremacy and skill under pressure: She's one of the top guns in corporate law.
Often used attributively: top-gun pilots, top-gun salespeople.
The phrase gained wide currency from the 1986 film about naval aviators.
Highest-ranked cards
- championsContest winners, top performers
- starsLuminous celestial bodies
- hotshotsFlamboyantly successful people
- phenomsRemarkable talents, abbreviated
titans · virtuosos · maestros · prodigies · leaders · trailblazers · pioneers · luminaries
Combat aircraft operators
- acesHighest-ranked cards
- squadronMilitary aviation unit
- dogfightClose combat between aircraft
- F-14 TomcatAmerican naval interceptor
wingman · sortie · flight school · combat · aerial · Maverick · call sign · carrier landing
Expert precision shooter
- sniperConcealed precision shooter
- marksmanPrecision shooter
- deadeyeUnerring shooter
- precisionAccuracy of measurement
accuracy · bullseye · target · aim · rifle · scope · shooting range · crack shot
Ongoing contest between opponents
- tournamentMulti-round competitive event
- championshipCompetition for top rank
- showdownDecisive final confrontation
- finalsConcluding tests or matches
bracket · playoffs · leaderboard · rankings · frontrunner · contender · title holder · defending champion
aces
Highest-ranked cards
- championsContest winners, top performers
- starsLuminous celestial bodies
- hotshotsFlamboyantly successful people
phenoms · titans · virtuosos · maestros · prodigies · leaders · trailblazers · pioneers · luminaries · paragons
fighter pilots
Combat aircraft operators
F-14 Tomcat · wingman · sortie · flight school · combat · aerial · Maverick · call sign · carrier landing · afterburner
sharpshooter
Expert precision shooter
precision · accuracy · bullseye · target · aim · rifle · scope · shooting range · crack shot · steady hand
rivalry
Ongoing contest between opponents
- tournamentMulti-round competitive event
- championshipCompetition for top rank
- showdownDecisive final confrontation
finals · bracket · playoffs · leaderboard · rankings · frontrunner · contender · title holder · defending champion · number one
top gunssubordinates
Those ranked below
underlings · bottom feeders · rank and file · grunts · bottom rung
top gunsamateurs
Nonprofessional participants
novices · incompetents · bunglers · beginners · greenhorns
top gunsnobodies
Unimportant, unknown persons
nonentities · small potatoes · bit players · minor leaguers · little people
top, guns, shotgun, gunning, gunner, gunned, shotguns, gunners, gunnery