lone gunman
English edit
Etymology edit
From the Warren Commission's lone gunman theory, that the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy was the work of a single individual, subsequently applied to numerous other political assassinations and shootings.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
lone gunman (plural lone gunmen)
- (idiomatic) An individual person who acts on his or her own initiative, without partners, especially one who has sole responsibility for doing something questionable, confidential, or iniquitous.
- 2002, Jed Mercurio, Bodies, →ISBN, page 340:
- He continues, "So when someone blows the whistle, the hospital has to start looking for a scapegoat. The hospital looks for the lone gunman—the individual, acting alone, acting counter to his training, who, through a gross act of incompetence . . . ."
- 2008, John Grisham, The Appeal, →ISBN, pages 197–198:
- Trial lawyers, always a colorful and eclectic bunch. . . . Most were lone gunmen too eccentric to keep much of a staff.
- 2008, Lee Raffel, I Hate Conflict! Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life, →ISBN, page 260:
- The Wilson family had been sorely conflicted because each member had gone off in his or her own direction, thinking that they were all lone gunmen.