shoot down

British  

verb

1. to shoot callously

2. to cause to fall to earth by hitting with a missile

3. to defeat or disprove

   he shot down her argument

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shoot down Idioms  

1. Ruin the aspirations of, disappoint, as in Bill was hoping Sharon would go out with him, but she shot him down .

2. Reject, defeat; also, expose as false. For example, It was the best idea I could come up with, but they unanimously shot it down , or It was inevitable that they would shoot down any claim made by the opposing candidate . This colloquial expression, which alludes to bringing down an aircraft or game bird by shooting, is sometimes intensified as shoot down in flames , originally (in World War I) referring to bringing down enemy aircraft but the late 1950s extended to decisively defeating anyone or anything.

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Example Sentences

The U.S. has deployed a BlueHalo Locust laser weapon system that can shoot down drones with $3 of electricity, also known as “directed energy.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In addition, the long-range Shahed-style drones Moscow uses are now far more advanced—flying faster and higher, making them far more difficult for air-defense teams to shoot down.

From The Wall Street Journal

By shooting down four MiG-15s in a single fight, “Royce Williams had accomplished what no other American fighter pilot would ever accomplish,” Thomas McKelvey Cleaver wrote in a history of the Korean naval air campaign.”

From The Wall Street Journal

German lawmakers this year gave the police broader authority to shoot down drones if necessary.

From Barron's

The system is designed to shoot down long-range ballistic missiles that fly above the Earth's atmosphere.

From Barron's

Related Words

• cheapen
• corrupt
• debase
• degenerate
• demean
• deteriorate
• diminish
• discredit
• disgrace
• downgrade
• impair
• lessen
• reduce
• vitiate
• weaken