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.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces overnight shot down 426 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions and illegally annexed Crimea. — ABC News, 26 Aug. 2026 Russia launched two missiles and 150 drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, with 124 drones shot down, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026 Don't shoot down other people's ideas without bringing your own. — Bryan West, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026 In 2015, Turkey had shot down a Russian jet over its Syrian frontier. — Andrew Wilks, Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 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 28 Aug. 2026.

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