shots

noun

plural of shot
1
as in firings
a directed propelling of a missile by a firearm or artillery piece cannon operators often had to use several shots to figure out the range of their targets

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2
as in attempts
an effort to do or accomplish something let's take another shot at the puzzle

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3
as in photos
a picture created from an image recorded on a light-sensitive surface by a camera took a shot of his family for the scrapbook

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4
as in shooters
a person skilled in shooting at a target a soldier who's an excellent shot with a rifle

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5
as in sips
the portion of a serving of a beverage that is swallowed at one time drank a shot of whisky

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6
as in guesses
an opinion or judgment based on little or no evidence I have no idea what's different about you, but I'll take a shot: you cut your hair?

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7
as in opportunities
a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place we have a real shot at getting into the championship if we win this next match

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of shots Two men were found dead inside a Long Beach home after one of them exchanged shots with police and sparked a standoff with SWAT officers in a residential neighborhood early Saturday morning, police said. — Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2026 One possibly surprising tool to map out shots for the film to ensure the visual representation of this repetition and cycle was Microsoft Excel. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 18 Oct. 2026 Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, who had 19 saves for his third shutout in his last six starts, wasn’t pressured often, and the few shots that did fly his way missed the net. — Kalen Lumpkins, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026 The question, though, with such a limited sample size is whether the 3-point attempts are the right shots in the right spots. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026 Gunn stopped three shots for the Earthquakes (13-8-9), who sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with four matches remaining. — ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026 Conversely, Atlanta managed just three shots on target, two of which came after the 89th minute. — Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2026 The Wall Street Journal reports that oil producers are paying $30 million to $40 million for round-trip shots in and out of the Strait of Hormuz. — Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026 For example, a player taking hundreds of shots could use data collected by the chip to understand which shooting angles and ball rotations are most likely to result in a basket. — Jessica Golden, CNBC, 11 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shots
  1. firings
  2. attempts
  3. photos
  4. shooters
  5. sips
  6. guesses
  7. opportunities
  8. tries
Noun
  • Thursday's lawsuit cites public comments made by top Justice Department officials and the president directed toward the plaintiffs as evidence the firings were motivated by political animus.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The lawsuit seeks, among other remedies, reinstatement to the FBI, an awarding of back pay and a court order declaring that the firings were unlawful.
    — Eric Tucker, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of firings
Noun
  • Last weekend in Highland, Michigan, Rogers dismissed El-Sayed's attempts to whittle away at his GOP base of support.
    — Aaron Navarro, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Proposition 132 attempts to address these concerns by stiffening legal penalties.
    — Joshua Barocas, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of attempts
Noun
  • After the boutique’s statement, Clarkson doubled down on her claims on her Instagram stories with photos featuring a price tag on the bird that contradicted the shop’s first statement.
    — Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • As for privacy, Mayer said users can grant Dazzle full, partial, or no access to their photos and images that are sensitive are immediately discarded.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of photos
Noun
  • After all, Thompson is one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Peterson used screen names of mass shooters, including the name of the gunman who killed students at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the man who killed movie-goers in Aurora, Colorado.
    — WCCO Staff, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of shooters
Noun
  • The hotel’s second-floor reception area has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the beach, a pool table that is perpetually in play, and couches for gathering over morning coffee and evening sips.
    — Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Tasting wristbands are required for Taste of Los Gatos bites and sips.
    — Linda Zavoral, Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of sips
Noun
  • Today’s puzzle took our testers an average of 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.
    — New York Times Games, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Getting a word with a small number of guesses is a source of pride for players.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of guesses
Noun
  • The court also found that families in many rural counties have substantially fewer opportunities to use EdChoice vouchers.
    — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The event, for golfers and non-golfers, will include golf instruction, interactive activities, music, food and opportunities to connect with founders Ajanaku and Cooper, community leaders, local organizations, and others.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of opportunities
Noun
  • For example, using a quantum computer to break the current RSA-2048 encryption employed in website security, banking and electronic ID cards would require magic states that would fail only once in 10 billion tries.
    — Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Seguin’s goal, tying the score late in the first period, was Dallas’ first home power-play goal in eight tries.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of tries

Phrases Containing shots

Browse Nearby Words

shot in the dark
shots
shots in the arm
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Cite this Entry

“Shots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shots. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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