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.
Fusion startup Xcimer Energy is working with RTX to develop pulsed laser weapons designed to shoot down drone swarms and missiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The units, part of some 50,000 troops deployed to the region, are spread across the Gulf to shoot down missiles and drones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
He added the the Indian delegation "was safe because it is Ukrainian fighter jets that shoot down most of these drones".
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
The UK has maintained a permanent base at Akrotiri since the 1950s and RAF operations to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones have been launched from there in recent months.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
To be considered an ace, a fighter pilot has to shoot down five aircraft.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
