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Synonyms

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
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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.

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.

It recently has been using upgraded versions of its David’s Sling system, which was designed to shoot down rockets and shorter-range ballistic missiles, to intercept bigger and longer-range varieties—with mixed results.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

It can shoot down short and medium-range ballistic missiles, using hit-to-kill technology.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

It’s expensive to shoot down a $40,000 drone with a $4 million interceptor missile.

From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026

It has also sent RAF jets to the region to shoot down missiles and drones fired by Iran at UK allies.

From BBC • Mar. 8, 2026

The Po-2s didn’t usually fly in daylight because their slow speed made them easy for enemy aircraft to chase and shoot down.

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.