shoot down
Britishverb
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to shoot callously
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to cause to fall to earth by hitting with a missile
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to defeat or disprove
he shot down her argument
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Ruin the aspirations of, disappoint, as in Bill was hoping Sharon would go out with him, but she shot him down .
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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.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ten years ago, these reanimation stunts were nutty and obscure enough to shoot down with ease.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
Navy has been unable to resolve—like cheap drones that can swarm past warships designed to shoot down planes and missiles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
In Iran, they are most likely to have been involved in Defensive Counter Air roles to shoot down Iranian drones and cruise missiles.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
It’s expensive to shoot down a $40,000 drone with a $4 million interceptor missile.
From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026
“So tell me, how was the shoot down in the city?”
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
