Showing results for "shot"

• past participle of shoot.
• past tense form of shoot.

shot

¹ American  

[shot] / ʃɒt /

noun

• shots,
  plural
• shot
  plural

1. a discharge of a firearm, bow, etc.

2. the range of or the distance traveled by a missile in its flight.

3. an aimed discharge of a missile.

4. an attempt to hit a target with a missile.

5. an act or instance of shooting a firearm, bow, etc.

6. a small ball or pellet of lead, a number of which are loaded in a cartridge and used for one charge of a shotgun.

7. such pellets collectively.

   a charge of shot.

8. a projectile for discharge from a firearm or cannon.

9. such projectiles collectively.

   shot and shell.

10. a person who shoots; marksman.

    He was a good shot.

11. Slang. a blow; punch.

    The prizefighter was knocked out by a shot in the chin.

12. anything like a shot, especially in being sudden and forceful.

13. a heavy metal ball that competitors cast as far as possible in shot-putting contests.

14. an aimed stroke, throw, or the like, as in certain games, especially in an attempt to score.

15. an attempt or try.

    He's entitled to a shot at the championship.

    Synonyms:

    essay, go, chance

16. a remark aimed at some person or thing.

17. a guess at something.

18. a hypodermic injection, as of a serum, vaccine, narcotic, or anaesthetic.

    He took a series of immunizing shots for hay fever.

19. a small quantity, especially an ounce, of undiluted liquor.

20. an amount due, especially at a tavern.

21. Photography.

    1. a photograph, especially a snapshot.

       Here's a nice shot of my kids.

    2. the act of making a photograph, especially a snapshot.

22. Movies, Television. a unit of action photographed without interruption and constituting a single camera view.

23. an explosive charge in place for detonation, as in mining or quarrying.

24. Metallurgy. comparatively hard globules of metal in the body of a casting.

25. Nautical. a 90-foot (27-meter) length of anchor cable or chain.

26. Checkers. a compulsory series of exchanges, especially when it proves favorable to the aggressor.

27. Textiles.

    1. a pick sent through the shed in a single throw of the shuttle.

    2. (in carpet weaving) filling yarn used to bind the pile to the fabric, usually expressed with a preceding number representing the quantity of picks used.

       three-shot carpet.

    3. a defect in a fabric caused by an unusual color or size in the yarn.

28. a chance with odds for and against; a bet.

    a 20 to 1 shot that his horse will come in first.

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verb (used with object)

shotted, shotting

1. to load or supply with shot.

2. to weight with shot.

verb (used without object)

shotted, shotting

1. to manufacture shot, as in a shot tower.

idioms

1. shot in the arm, something that results in renewed vigor, confidence, etc.; stimulus.

   Her recent promotion has given her a shot in the arm. The new members gave the club a shot in the arm.

2. have / take a shot at, make an attempt at.

   I'll have a shot at solving the problem.

3. by a long shot. long shot.

4. call the shots, to have the power or authority to make decisions or control policy.

   Now that he's chairman of the board, he calls the shots.

5. call one's shots, to indicate beforehand what one intends to do and how one intends to do it.

6. shot in the dark, a wild guess; a random conjecture.

7. like a shot, instantly; quickly.

   He bolted out of here like a shot.

shot ² American  

[shot] / ʃɒt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of shoot.

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adjective

1. woven so as to present a play of colors; having a changeable color; variegated, as silk.

2. spread or streaked with color.

   the dawn sky shot with gold.

3. in hopelessly bad condition; ruined.

   Those sneakers are really shot. His morale is shot.

4. Slang. intoxicated.

shot ¹ British  

/ ʃɒt /

noun

1. the act or an instance of discharging a projectile

2. a solid missile, such as an iron ball or a lead pellet, discharged from a firearm

3. 1. small round pellets of lead collectively, as used in cartridges

   2. metal in the form of coarse powder or small pellets

4. the distance that a discharged projectile travels or is capable of travelling

5. a person who shoots, esp with regard to his ability

   he is a good shot

6. informal an attempt; effort

7. informal a guess or conjecture

8. any act of throwing or hitting something, as in certain sports

9. the launching of a rocket, missile, etc, esp to a specified destination

   a moon shot

10. 1. a single photograph

       I took 16 shots of the wedding

    2. a series of frames on cine film concerned with a single event

    3. a length of film taken by a single camera without breaks, used with others to build up a full motion picture or television film

11. informal an injection, as of a vaccine or narcotic drug

12. informal a glass of alcoholic drink, esp spirits

13. sport a heavy metal ball used in the shot put

14. an explosive charge used in blasting

15. globules of metal occurring in the body of a casting that are harder than the rest of the casting

16. a unit of chain length equal to 75 feet (Brit) or 90 feet (US)

17. slang to have control over an organization, course of action, etc

18. informal

    1. to attempt

    2. to jibe at or vex

19. very quickly, esp willingly

20. informal anything that regenerates, increases confidence or efficiency, etc

    his arrival was a shot in the arm for the company

21. a wild guess

22. informal that is the right thing to do

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verb

1. (tr) to weight or load with shot

shot ² British  

/ ʃɒt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of shoot

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adjective

1. (of textiles) woven to give a changing colour effect

   shot silk

2. streaked with colour

3. slang exhausted

4. slang to get rid of

shot More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing shot

• big cheese (shot)
• call the shots
• cheap shot
• give it one's best shot
• have a crack (shot) at
• like a shot
• long shot
• parting shot
• shoot

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shotless
  adjective
• shotlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shot
  plural
• shots
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of shot¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English sc(e)ot, (ge)sceot; cognate with German Schoss, Geschoss; akin to shoot ¹ ( def. )

Origin of shot²

First recorded in 1830–40, for the adjective

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shot shots shotted shotting

Defensive and interest-rate-sensitive areas of the market moved sharply higher this week, as stocks that had lagged over the past two months shot upward.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026

“He just believed in himself to play quarterback. He said, ‘I want a shot at playing quarterback.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

For a brief moment, with Grace shot, Hal is acting president.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

“If you sign this deal and they come in, you get one shot to get it right,” said Pierce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

As she helped me tug them over the corners of the mattress, I shot her a look out of the corner of my eye.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis warned AI capabilities were growing fast, telling the conference in Dublin such instances were "early warning shots" fired by systems that "aren't that powerful yet".

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Safety isn’t a matter of banning Jell-O shots and Greek letters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Lionesses had 74% possession in the first leg but only netted three goals from their 26 shots and conceded in the second half, while Greece also hit the bar with a powerful strike.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

But most insistently, the interstitial visuals are cinematographer Szor’s night shots of apartment facades in modern Tel Aviv: citizens at rest with their loved ones, working out or eating in front of their televisions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

“For three months,” she said, scribbling on the notepad, “with the insulin shots, weekly blood-sugar testing, and prescription food, plus the four hundred forty dollars already sitting on the credit card from his initial tests...”

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

“Keep your guns shotted and your powder dry!”

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

Some of the goldseekers fired a salute with shotted guns when, poised on the mountain side, they looked down upon a stream flowing to the northwest.

From The Trail of the Goldseekers A Record of Travel in Prose and Verse by Hamlin Garland

In a solid line of two ranks, with Spencer carbines full shotted, the two magnificent regiments deployed into line on our right.

From Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman With Custer's Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War by James Harvey Kidd

The guns were shotted, and we could distinctly see the splash of the marble balls as they dropped into the water.

From Journal of a Visit to Constantinople and Some of the Greek Islands in the Spring and Summer of 1833 by John Auldjo

Again and again the gun was shotted and the captain pulled the lanyard.

From Ruth Fielding at Lighthouse Point Nita, the Girl Castaway by Alice B. Emerson

“Maybe I should stop drop shotting and start winning,” Melzer said with a laugh.

From New York Times ● May 27, 2010

When bass are near a weedy bottom, Lillegard favors vertical jigging or drop shotting above the vegetation.

From Time Magazine Archive

An' so the singing an' shotting go on.

From Jamaican Song and Story Annancy stories, digging sings, ring tunes, and dancing tunes by Walter Jekyll

Not being able to aggravate us into shotting our guns, what must he turn to and do but load with stone—and look at that flag!

From The Honour of the Flag by W. Clark (William Clark) Russell

Rifles should always be cleaned from the breach, thus avoiding possible injury to the rifling at the muzzle, which would affect the shotting adversely.

From Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Cavalry of the Army of the United States 1917 to be also used by Engineer Companies (Mounted) for Cavalry Instruction and Training by U. S. War Department

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Related Words

• attempt
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