shooting

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

Examples of shooting in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their offense is efficient and explosive, scoring well above league average, while their defense has limited opponents to modest shooting and forced a high number of turnovers. —Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025

Regardless of the reason, the shooting left many in Irvington shaken. —Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 6 Dec. 2025

Damian Flores of Flores Boxing Academy in Ceres went to his Instagram page in the hours and days after the shooting to rally support for Amari and his family. —Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 5 Dec. 2025

The shooting is under investigation. —Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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