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

In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Perry explicitly shot down any possibility of reuniting with Journey. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 20 Feb. 2026

The attempt to replace Meyer was ultimately shot down and the executive board released a statement distancing itself from Marino, but the incident highlighted the union’s factioning. —Andy McCullough, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026

Five days later, a passenger plane, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, was mistaken for an incoming cruise missile and was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, killing all 176 people on board. —Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026

Cut all branches and shoots down to the base. —Lee Wallender, The Spruce, 19 Feb. 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