gunned

verb

past tense of gun
as in drilled
to strike with a missile from a gun traded stories of the Wild West, when outlaws gunned men down in broad daylight and in cold blood

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gunned In a playoff win against Escondido Charter, Kyles dived to her left, quickly sprang to her feet and gunned out the batter. — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 June 2026 Cruising along at 9-of-10, Maye gunned two more passes to Douglas and beat instant pressure with a slant completion to Brown. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 9 June 2026 Underscoring the stakes for Louisville residents is the March fatal shooting of a 28-year-old woman named Katelyn Hall, who was experiencing a mental health crisis when police gunned her down in her own apartment. — Topher Sanders, ProPublica, 2 June 2026 Although, after the rapid-fire fundraise by Anthropic — a near triple from February, not easy when your prior valuation was already north of $300 billion — things seem pretty shot-gunned. — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 31 May 2026 About noon Larry gunned the Maule — heavily loaded with moose meat — to a heart-stopping takeoff from the makeshift strip. — Ben East, Outdoor Life, 14 May 2026 Cobb Vanth The old-fashioned cowboy wore Boba Fett's armor and weapons as the marshal of Mos Pelgo on Tatooine and was an loyal ally of the Mando – until Cad Bane gunned him down in cold blood. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 3 May 2026 Police say Rickman, as seen in dashcam video, shoved his relative out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement, gunned the engine and took off. — Paul Larosa, CBS News, 3 May 2026 The Eisenhower administration wanted Trujillo removed but ultimately a group of Dominican dissidents gunned him down. — Ryan Lucas, NPR, 17 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gunned
  1. drilled
  2. popped
  3. shot
  4. killed
  5. plugged
  6. slaughtered
  7. dropped
  8. destroyed
Verb
  • Knight then drilled Omega headfirst onto the TNT title for a nearfall.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Julio Rodríguez popped out on the first pitch before Canzone drilled a 2-0 splitter about 20 rows up.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 July 2026
Definition of drilled
Verb
  • Lindor popped one up to the infield for the second out, but Bo Bichette hit an RBI single to keep the inning alive.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 26 July 2026
  • The bride gave the rest of her guests hugs and popped a bottle of Dom Pérignon for a toast.
    — Shelby Wax, Vogue, 26 July 2026
Definition of popped
Verb
  • Colin Gray’s sentencing represents the end of a harrowing road that began with the September 2024 shooting in which his son, then 14, fatally shot two students and two teachers and injured nine others at his Winder, Georgia, high school.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 30 July 2026
  • Basically, Georgia will never be able to do anything right in Emira’s eyes, so the messenger is getting shot.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 30 July 2026
Definition of shot
Verb
  • At age 12, Collinson ran his first mile for Running 4 Heroes, a nonprofit that honors, through one-mile runs, first responders and K9s injured or killed in the line of duty, while also providing support through fundraising and community initiatives.
    — Elijah Megginson, AJC.com, 31 July 2026
  • Israel responded with an intense aerial and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, where more than 73,000 people have been killed, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says.
    — Emma Nicholson, CBS News, 31 July 2026
Definition of killed
Verb
  • On Thursday, workers excavated a 3-foot-by-4-foot area to find the source of the water, plugged the leak and resumed preparing the street to reopen.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026
  • However, that battery capacity allows the Spéirling Pure to cover a race distance of 25 to 31 miles (40 to 50 km) at maximum LMP2 pace before needing to be plugged back in.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 11 July 2026
Definition of plugged
Verb
  • Although scarce documentation has left a wide range of estimates, as many as 2 million people are said to have been slaughtered in communal massacres during this exodus.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026
  • Per the title, Aang is the last surviving airbender after his pacifist brethren were slaughtered by a belligerent, expansionist Fire Nation.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 24 July 2026
Definition of slaughtered
Verb
  • The Padres saw their five-game winning streak snapped and dropped two games behind the final NL wild-card spot.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 31 July 2026
  • Two other charges, destruction of evidence and resisting arrest, were dropped as part of a plea deal with the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office.
    — Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 30 July 2026
Definition of dropped
Verb
  • After the match, Brock Lesnar Oba Femi destroyed Brock Lesnar in their first encounter, which made an already rising Oba Femi into an overnight sensation.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Weeks later in Georgia, the Highway 82 Fire destroyed more than 120 homes – the most lost to a single fire since state records began in the 1950s – while blazes across the Southeast pushed smoke into communities that rarely see it.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of destroyed

Browse Nearby Words

gunmen
gunned
gunned (for)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Gunned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gunned. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of gunned for Spanish Speakers

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