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 of shoot down

• ridicule
• mock
• laugh (at)
• rag on

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

Ukraine is facing an acute shortage of interceptors to shoot down incoming Russian ballistic missiles. — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2026

Ukraine’s air force said Russian strikes had hit 17 locations overnight, while its air defenses had shot down or suppressed 96 drones and three missiles. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2026

Saudi Arabia said Monday its coalition shot down three missiles fired by Houthis toward the Eastern Province. — Ryan Gaydos Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026

Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles, two of which Ukraine shot down, Kyiv said. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shoot down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown