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.
The film indeed ends in melodramatic fashion, with Nicholson killing Cat in a shoot-out. Alexander Nazaryan, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026 Saturday evening, police released a photo of Haile Cummings, 34, who is being sought in connection with the furious shoot-out inside Taste of the City Lounge on Franklin Ave. Nicholas Williams, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026 Alternating between the date and the shoot-out gives the love story extra impact, as the unadulterated joy between Angela and Mike is even more pronounced when placed against the sociopathic violence of Stockwell’s existence. Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 4 Feb. 2026 There’s a close-quarter mêlée set to an ironically inappropriate Air Supply track, there’s a hallway fight à la Oldboy, and there’s a shoot-out and car chase in which the characters are all in a minivan. Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 30 Jan. 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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shoot-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot-out. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.

Kids Definition

shoot-out

noun
ˈshüt-ˌau̇t
: a battle fought with handguns or rifles
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster