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

Another 16 service members were killed when their helicopter was shot down while attempting to provide support and rescue to the team. —Jennifer McRae, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026

Last week, the Senate shot down the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s massive budget for 2027. —Idaho Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026

The embassy’s air defenses were able to shoot down all four drones targeting the facility, according to two Iraqi security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. —Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2026

Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 87 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 16 over the Krasnodar region and 31 over the nearby Sea of Azov. —Arkansas Online, 15 Mar. 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