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
4
: discredit sense 2
shoot down a theory

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 number of drones that Sobyanin reported shot down on Tuesday was also the largest of any day since May 17. David Brennan, ABC News, 16 June 2026 One policy that would have hiked fees for certain types of visas was shot down in federal court this month. Terry Tang, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026 That evening, however, the US military shot down two Iranian attack drones that were targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a US defense official. Kevin Liptak, CNN Money, 14 June 2026 China’s military planners, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports, understand that destroying tankers may be more effective than trying to shoot down stealth fighters. Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 14 June 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shoot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot%20down. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.

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