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

Russia fired 328 drones and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight and in the early morning, the air force said, claiming that air defenses shot down 297 drones. —Arkansas Online, 7 Feb. 2026

Russia fired 328 drones and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight and in the early morning, the air force said, claiming that air defenses shot down 297 drones. —Kamila Hrabchuk, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched two missiles and 183 drones into the country overnight, of which 156 drones were shot down or suppressed. —David Brennan, ABC News, 5 Feb. 2026

Sheriff Nanos has shot down media reports that Cioni is considered a prime suspect in her disappearance and had to inform the public that ransom reports sent to media outlets, including TMZ and local news stations in Arizona, have not been substantiated. —Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 5 Feb. 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