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 The Democratic presidential front-runner had just finished his California primary victory speech — thanking Chávez and Huerta — when an assassin gunned him down. — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026 Billini worked as an analyst for the state court system in the Bronx and was close to retirement when Moore gunned her down, relatives said. — Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026 When Nabers was sidelined, the Giants had a conspicuous lack of offensive game-wreckers, and Dart was routinely out-gunned. — Andy Behrens, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gunned
  1. drilled
  2. popped
  3. shot
  4. killed
  5. plugged
  6. slaughtered
  7. dropped
  8. destroyed
Verb
  • Brown drilled a corner 3 with one second remaining, forcing overtime at 117.
    — C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The bigger habit, though, is the one her mother drilled in long before SPF was mainstream.
    — Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of drilled
Verb
  • Third-string tight end Luke Schoonmaker is also questionable to play with a groin injury that popped up in Thursday’s practice.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Oct. 2026
  • When the meeting concluded, some of the scientists popped their bottles of cava in celebration.
    — Katie Worth, ProPublica, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of popped
Verb
  • For the game, the Heat shot a poor 14 of 25 (56%) from the foul line on Monday.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026
  • In the spirit of B-movie icons like Roger Corman, the film was shot in four days for $40,000 in order to celebrate Chris LaMartina’s 40th birthday.
    — William Earl, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of shot
Verb
  • Three people were killed after two helicopters collided midair near an airport in Oregon on Thursday afternoon, October 29, prompting an investigation by federal aviation authorities.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The presidency has been vacant since President Jovenel Moïse was killed in 2021.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of killed
Verb
  • Each console was tested in the device's performance mode while plugged directly into power, with the only difference being the resolution.
    — Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The roommate then plugged the camera in and saw several videos of Long inside the bedroom testing out the device, according to the report.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of plugged
Verb
  • By chance, King was served a video of an auction in Bowie, Texas, where donkeys were being sold to be slaughtered for their hide, which is used to make a popular Chinese medicine called ejiao.
    — Brayden Garcia October 28, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Oct. 2026
  • White militias destroyed their homes, torched their food supplies, and slaughtered them outright so routinely that a secondary economy of kidnappers sprang up to sell the survivors, children and adults alike, into servitude.
    — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of slaughtered
Verb
  • Plus, the tall shafts helped keep me warm when the temperatures dropped dramatically once the sun went down, which was a major bonus.
    — Alyssa Grabinski, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The Jets have dropped two straight games to fall to 2-5, turning up the heat on coach Aaron Glenn.
    — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of dropped
Verb
  • Both the rocket and the camera were destroyed after crashing into the Earth at a speed of about 340 miles per hour.
    — Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Cities outside Paris have been hit hard by the unrest, including Limoges where a fire nearly destroyed the 19th-century city hall.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of destroyed

Browse Nearby Words

gunmen
gunned
gunned (for)
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Cite this Entry

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

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