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
4
: discredit sense 2
shoot down a theory

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
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.
Steam owner Valve shot down reports that it's linked to cloud software company Twilio. James Peckham, PC Magazine, 14 May 2025 The Pakistanis shot down several Indian combat aircraft, but defensive measures weren’t seen as adequate by the country’s high command; the Pakistani military launched retaliatory strikes of its own. Daniel Depetris, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2025 The type has been shooting down Russian drones since at least 2023 but only recently made its public debut in official videos. David Axe, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025 Kipper said that when his father’s plane was shot down in Bologna, Italy, he was captured and taken to Germany as a Nazi prisoner of war. Natasha Chen, CNN Money, 11 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for shoot down

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoot down was in 1657

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shoot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot%20down. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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