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 of shoot down

• 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

The New York Times, Reuters and other outlets reported on April 3 that Iran shot down the plane. —Cybele Mayes-Osterman, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026

In Russia, 192 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russia and occupied Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday morning. —ABC News, 3 Apr. 2026

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. —Sam Mednick, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2026

The jet was shot down by Iranian forces, the officials said, and the combat rescue mission ensued shortly after. —Eleanor Watson, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026

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