gunshot

noun

gun·​shot ˈgən-ˌshät 

1

: shot or a projectile fired from a gun

2

: the range of a gun

3

: the firing of a gun

Examples of gunshot in a Sentence

He was killed by a gunshot to the head.

Recent Examples on the Web

The 594 gunshot victims are down from the previous low of 694 people shot during the same time frame last year and in 2018 — and is the lowest since the NYPD created its current crime-tracking system, Compstat, in 1994. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

When the bodies were recovered in August, an autopsy found gunshot wounds in all six bodies but could not establish the cause of death. — Jeremy Diamond, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026

Vermont police have arrested a 22-year-old man after his mother was found dead of a gunshot wound in her kitchen in Reading, Massachusetts, early Thursday. — Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that its teams treated two people for gunshot wounds and three who had been beaten, the news agency reported. — Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for gunshot

• allot
• barat
• begot
• besought
• bethought
• bloodshot
• boycott
• buckshot
• crackpot
• croat
• culottes
• dashpot

Kids Definition

gunshot

noun

gun·​shot -ˌshät 

1

: shot fired from a gun

2

: the range of a gun

within gunshot

3

: the firing of a gun