1
: a battle fought with handguns or rifles
2
: something resembling a shoot-out
broadly : showdown
3
: a shooting competition in overtime that is used to determine the winner of a game (as in soccer or hockey) tied at the end of regular play

Examples of shoot-out in a Sentence

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.
Before the huge climactic shoot-out — there’s always a huge climactic shoot-out — someone casually goes through a location and places all sorts of extra guns throughout the space, hiding them in refrigerators and under pool tables and whatnot. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Mar. 2026 The movie resembles nothing so much as a classic Western, with the hero outnumbered and outgunned and a big shoot-out at the end. Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026 During a shoot-out, Oseguera Cervantes was injured. Kerry Breen, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2026 In another shoot-out in 2022, the Cuban coast guard killed one person aboard a Dakota speedboat with a Florida registration number three nautical miles north of Bahia Honda. Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 25 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for shoot-out

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoot-out was in 1948

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Cite this Entry

“Shoot-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot-out. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

shoot-out

noun
ˈshüt-ˌau̇t
: a battle fought with handguns or rifles
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