shooting

1 of 2

noun

shoot·​ing ˈshü-tiŋ 

plural shootings

1

: the act of shooting a gun

But shooting is many a man's choice, especially up at the great hunting clubs like Choctaw Bluff …

—Harriet de Rosišre

2

: an instance of gun violence directed toward a person or group of people

a drive-by shooting

mass shootings

… a clutch of outspoken student activists flipped the national script on school shootings in America.

—Dahlia Lithwick

3

: the act of photographing or filming someone or something

A large fan specially designed to create the effect of wind during shooting.

—Ira Konigsberg

That part of filmmaking that comes immediately after the shooting is completed …

—Ira Konigsberg

shooting

2 of 2

present participle of shoot entry 1

Examples of shooting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Police officers were not injured in the shooting, and the unidentified man remained inside the house. — Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2026

The attacker used a pump-action shotgun bought by his mother, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the shooting. — Haven Daley, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026

The shooting happened at the 53rd Street and 7th Avenue station in busy Midtown Manhattan just after noon, according to the NYPD. — Brie Stimson, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Michelle, the 2001 school shooting survivor and a mother of children at Silver Rail Elementary School, carried for years the knowledge that gun violence could shatter an ordinary day without warning. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing shooting

• go shooting
• hip-shooting
• shooting gallery
• shooting guard
• shooting iron
• shooting script
• shooting star
• shooting stick
• skeet shooting
• the whole shooting match
• wing shooting

Rhymes for shooting

• booting
• fluting
• fruiting
• hooting
• looting
• muting
• rooting
• scooting
• suiting
• tooting
• commuting
• computing

Medical Definition

shooting

adjective

shoot·​ing

: characterized by sudden sharp piercing sensations

shooting pains