shoot down

verb

shot down; shooting down; shoots down

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

• deride
• gibe
• jibe
• jeer
• laugh (at)
• mock
• ridicule
• scout
• skewer

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

On the second day of the 2020 Armenia-Azerbaijan war, the Armenian military posted a video of one of its surface-to-air missile systems shooting down a surprising enemy aircraft: an Antonov AN-2 biplane. —Joshua Keating, Vox, 3 June 2024

Following Saturday’s barrage, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday that air defenses had shot down all 25 drones launched overnight. —Samya Kullab and Elise Morton, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 June 2024

The Arab kingdom of Jordan was shooting down Iran’s missiles side by side with Israel. —Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 15 Apr. 2024

When showing Elsbeth Leonard’s apartment, Joanne correctly accuses Elsbeth of snooping and shoots down her queries about her access to Gloria’s apartment. —Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1