shootout
Americannoun
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a gunfight that must end in defeat for one side or the other, as between gunfighters in the Old West, criminal groups, or law-enforcement officers and criminals.
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Slang. any military conflict or skirmish.
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Slang. a high-scoring or intensely played game or tournament, as of basketball or ice hockey.
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Soccer. a method of breaking a tie score at the end of overtime in which five players from each team alternate shooting at the opponent's goal, starting from a spot 35 yards (39 meters) from the goal line, in an attempt to kick the ball past the rival goalkeeper in under five seconds.
Etymology
Origin of shootout
1945–50; noun use of verb phrase shoot ( it ) out to settle a dispute with firearms
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.
Arsenal lose a penalty shootout as Paris St-Germain win the Champions League for a second successive year.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
The Bruins remained calm in a shootout that featured seven solo home runs.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
Paris Saint-Germain won its second consecutive Champions League title, defeating Arsenal in a penalty shootout in Budapest.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, officially the backup, hadn’t saved a penalty kick yet in this shootout.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026
And, like a grizzled extra scurrying out of the bar just before the climactic final shootout in a grade B Hollywood Western, Bud dropped a dollar onto the table and hurriedly split.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
