shoot down

verb

shot down; shooting down; shoots down
Synonyms of shoot downnext

transitive verb

1
: to cause to fall by shooting
shot down the helicopter
especially : to kill in this way
was shot down in cold blood
2
: to put an end to : defeat, reject
shoot down legislation
3
: deflate, ridicule
4
: discredit sense 2
shoot down a theory

Synonyms of shoot down

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Examples of shoot down in a Sentence

nowadays the aging activist is routinely shot down in most quarters of the media and dismissed as an irrelevant crank every one of my fund-raising ideas was shot down by the other club members
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
As Starlink's speed limits were lowered, Ukraine became incapable of shooting down some Russian drones. — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2026 It’s based on the 2023 novel of the same name by Daniel Kraus, who this year won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Angel Down, about American soldiers in World War I who discover an angel who’s been shot down over a battlefield in France. — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026 The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said its air defenses overnight shot down 604 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov. — Hanna Arhirova, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026 The Houthis eventually agreed not to attack US shipping in the Red Sea but remained very much in place – and in the meantime shot down a number of highly advanced US Reaper drones. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for shoot down

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoot down was in 1657

Rhymes for shoot down

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Browse Nearby Words

shoot dead
shoot down
shootee
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Cite this Entry

“Shoot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot%20down. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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