Definition of "birdshot" [birdshot]

• A small lead shot for shotgun shells. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The ballistics of shotguns and birdshot is well known to tens of millions of Americans who hunt fowl."
• "i have two (2) questions: do you think high brass birdshot is good enough or is buckshot (i'm thinking #4 buck) the way to go? who do i make the check out to?"
• "And the higher the number on the buckshot, the closer it is to birdshot, which is about the last thing you would consider appropriate for deer hunting."