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

• 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

Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense systems shot down the remaining drones and missiles. —Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 3 Sep. 2025

Players can throw enemies over pool tables and shoot down objects from the ceiling to take enemies out. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 2025

On Wednesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces shot down at least 105 Ukrainian drones overnight. —David Brennan, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2025

On the podcast, Allen calmly surmised his time on Earth is numbered, and shot down Maher's suggestion that artificial intelligence might prolong his life. —Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2025

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