shoot-up

American

[shoot-uhp] / ˈʃutˌʌp /

noun

Slang.

an act or instance of injecting an addictive drug intravenously.
shootout.

shoot up British

verb

(intr) to grow or become taller very fast
(tr) to hit with a number of shots
(tr) to spread terror throughout (a place) by lawless and wanton shooting
slang (tr) to inject (someone, esp oneself) with (a drug, esp heroin)

"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 up Idioms

Grow or get taller very rapidly, as in She's really shot up in the last year, and now she's taller than her mother . [First half of 1500s]
Riddle with bullets; damage or terrorize with gunfire. For example, I liked the scene in which the cowboy stomps into the saloon, gets drunk, and shoots the place up . [Late 1800s]
Inject a drug intravenously, especially an illegal drug. For example, The police caught him shooting up and arrested him . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]

Etymology

Origin of shoot-up

First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase shoot up

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.

And Love is like an idle fellow Who sets the match box in a blaze, And sees the blue flames and the yellow Shoot up and die beneath his gaze.

From More Toasts by Mosher, Marion Dix

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023