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Chekhov's gun

name
/t͡ʃɛ.kʰɔfs ɡʌn/

Etymology

Calque of Russian Чеховское ружьё (Čexovskoje ružʹjó). The principle was articulated by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and reported in various forms.

  1. calqued from Чеховское ружьё

Definitions

  1. A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and…

    A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

    • It seems like a violation of Chekhov’s gun rule to put Naomi Campbell in the first act and not have her throw a phone at someone in the third. (She tore up a check instead.)
    • An on-screen pill bottle works like Chekhov’s gun: Eventually, its contents will be fired at an actor’s mouth, or smashed between his lips, or hurled into his gullet.

  2. An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not…

    An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.

    • The episode of the sun-god's island is the Odyssey's equivalent of Chekhov's gun, announced in the poem's earliest lines as the occasion of the companions' downfall and anticipated ever since.
    • He is Chekhov's gun on the wall, destined to go off at the crucial moment.

The neighborhood

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA