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

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 82 drones into the country in its latest barrage, of which 63 were shot down or suppressed. —David Brennan, ABC News, 18 Dec. 2025

The Kremlin swiftly shot down the suggestion, having long rejected any ceasefire before a full peace deal is reached. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 13 Dec. 2025

Cramer said that neither is a reason to be concerned, directly shooting down the margins narrative. —Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 12 Dec. 2025

Kyiv says Russia launched at least 80 drones overnight, 50 of which were shot down or suppressed, while 29 struck seven locations in Ukraine. —Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 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