shoot down
Britishverb
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to shoot callously
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to cause to fall to earth by hitting with a missile
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to defeat or disprove
he shot down her argument
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Ruin the aspirations of, disappoint, as in Bill was hoping Sharon would go out with him, but she shot him down .
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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.
Now, as Kyiv appeals to allies for Patriot interceptors to shoot down missiles, it is leaning on cheap drones to defend cities from drone swarms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
At NATO’s annual summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Trump said he would let Ukraine manufacture Patriot defense systems, sophisticated U.S. mobile batteries that can shoot down enemy ballistic missiles.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
The next two companies are both manufacturers of directed-energy weapons designed to shoot down drones or missiles.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026
Operating the remote machine guns to shoot down drones "is like a computer game - just like an Xbox or PlayStation", he says.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
I’m expecting Emma to shoot down the idea—Madi and Skye never liked my ideas for art projects or video games—but when I look at my new friend, her face is a cheesy smile.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
