Definition of "gun-shy" []

• Afraid of loud noise, such as that of gunfire. (adjective)
• Extremely distrustful or wary. (adjective)

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.

• "It seems ridiculous to accuse True Blood of being gun-shy about killing people, but in terms of the principal cast, there have been surprisingly few deaths and an alarming number of additions."
• "Retail has been one of the slowest commercial property sectors to recover from the downturn, lagging behind offices, hotels and health care as high unemployment keeps consumers gun-shy."
• "Japanese companies are so notoriously gun-shy about shedding businesses especially to non-Japanese buyers that General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt joked at a speech in Tokyo two years ago that he hoped to acquire a Japanese company "some day in our lifetime.""