take a shot

idiom

1

: to fire a gun

He took a shot and missed.

—often + at

He took a shot at the deer.

2

: to try to hit

—+ at

She took a shot at me with a snowball but missed.

3

: to propel a ball or puck toward a goal

He took a shot and scored.

4

: to make a critical or hurtful remark about someone

—+ at

They took shots at each other throughout the debate.

5

: to attempt to do something successfully

—often + at

Take a shot at the math problem.

I never changed a tire before, but I'll take a shot at it.

6

informal : to photograph something

—often + of

Be sure to take a shot of the house.

Examples of take a shot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The opportunity came after senior forward Javan Buchanan missed two free throws, giving Wichita State about five seconds to get down the court and take a shot from the logo. —Idaho Statesman, 19 Nov. 2025

On that 26-yard return, Mims appeared to take a shot to the back of his helmet while falling out of bounds. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2025

Tully’s sharpshooter tries to take a shot at Nolan, but Elsbeth sees the little red laser dot on his forehead and pushes him out of the way. —Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025

For nearly the first hour of a Monday night matchup against Angel City FC, the Kansas City Current didn’t take a shot. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for take a shot

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• afterthought
• apricot
• argonaut
• astronaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot