shoot down
Britishverb
-
to shoot callously
-
to cause to fall to earth by hitting with a missile
-
to defeat or disprove
he shot down her argument
-
Ruin the aspirations of, disappoint, as in Bill was hoping Sharon would go out with him, but she shot him down .
-
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.
One of the largest costs for the U.S. during its conflict with Iran has been the missiles used to shoot down inexpensive drones.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
Stryker combat vehicles and tested the units’ ability to shoot down drones.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
The reasons why Fidel Castro's government decided to shoot down the planes are still the subject of debate.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
Ten years ago, these reanimation stunts were nutty and obscure enough to shoot down with ease.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
The orange gadget must have been some sort of a camera or scanner—that was the only explanation I could drum up that Chubs didn’t shoot down as being moronic.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
