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
4
: discredit sense 2
shoot down a theory

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
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.
In August 2024, Ukraine said its forces shot down a Su-34 fighter jet over Kursk Oblast during Kyiv's incursion into the Russian region. Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Sep. 2025 Participating states would mobilize roughly 120 combat aircraft, which would fly from European bases and shoot down missiles and drones over the covered territory. Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2025 At least 46 drones were shot down while heading toward Moscow from Monday evening through to Tuesday, according to city Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, amid what Russian Defense Ministry data suggested was a major Ukrainian drone barrage. David Brennan, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2025 Poland reported shooting down multiple drones, while NATO Italian fighter jets escorted three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets away from Estonian territory and Romania scrambled fighter jets to intercept a drone that eventually left the country’s airspace. Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shoot down

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoot down was in 1657

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Cite this Entry

“Shoot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot%20down. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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