ride shotgun

verb3

1. •
   (US) To accompany the driver of a vehicle on a journey as an armed escort (originally with a shotgun); (by extension) to accompany someone in order to assist and protect.

   • He attended the meeting to ride shotgun for the sales team, in case anyone had a technical question.
2. •
   (US, slang) To ride in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.

   • When both kids want to ride shotgun with Mom, they’ll just have to take turns.
3. •
   (US, slang) To supervise a process and watch for any risks.

   • Thank you also to Stacey Ammerman, who rode shotgun on the technical editing end of this book to make sure everything you read is easy to understand and actually works the way it is supposed to. — 2005