shootdown
Americannoun
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the attack and destruction of an aircraft in flight.
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the shooting and killing of someone in cold blood.
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.
When the sun came up on Saturday morning, Trump still had not referenced the shootdown on social media.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
In the hours following Friday’s F-15E shootdown, the U.S. military’s social-media accounts, including Centcom, went dark.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
It also happened one day after Cuban-American groups in Miami commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, which killed four people.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026
Fears about anti-aircraft fire, particularly after the 2014 shootdown of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, saw authorities around the world order their commercial airliners out.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 15, 2023
The Pentagon now needs to release photos of the surveillance gear recovered from the February shootdown of a Chinese balloon off the Carolina coast, he said.
From Washington Times • Jun. 7, 2023
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.
