undershoot
Americanverb (used with object)
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to shoot or launch a projectile that strikes under or short of (a target).
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Aeronautics. (of an aircraft or pilot) to land before reaching (a landing strip) because of a too rapid loss of altitude.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(of a pilot) to cause (an aircraft) to land short of (a runway) or (of an aircraft) to land in this way
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to shoot a projectile so that it falls short of (a target)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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undershootsimple
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undershootssimple
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have undershotperfect
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has undershotperfect
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am undershootingprogressive
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are undershootingprogressive
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is undershootingprogressive
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have been undershootingperfect progressive
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has been undershootingperfect progressive
Past
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undershotsimple
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had undershotperfect
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was undershootingprogressive
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were undershootingprogressive
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had been undershootingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of undershoot
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.
See Examples For:
“The risk in 2026 has always been skewed to further easing given the expected undershoot of the inflation target,” Deutsche Bank’s Chief European Economist Mark Wall said in a recent research note.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
Fewer firms expect inflation to top 3% over the next two years, while the share expecting the consumer-price index to undershoot the 2% target has climbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
A runway safety area refers to an area adjacent to, or at the end of a runway, meant to limit damage to aircraft should they overshoot, undershoot or veer off the runway.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2025
Mester said the Fed now faces a balancing act, saying it is very important for the central bank to be diligent, noting "we don't want to over tighten, we don't want to undershoot."
From Reuters ● Aug. 25, 2023
"Better to overshoot than to undershoot," added Aylward.
From The White Company by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
After a series of undershoots in the years following the 2008-09 financial crisis, policy would seek to exceed the 2% target—which it did readily.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
If a team undershoots its targets, it falls back quickly.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2024
Wall Street and world markets cheered below-consensus U.S. inflation on Wednesday, but they may not be so accommodating if Chinese inflation on Thursday also undershoots forecasts.
From Reuters ● May 10, 2023
The snippet we see of their idiotic vanity project, “The Striking Viking,” aims so low it undershoots satire by a mile.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2018
Since regular jet flights started two years ago, no U.S. commercial jet has cracked up seriously on landing, but there have been perilously close undershoots and overshoots because of pilot misjudgment.
From Time Magazine Archive
The history of the building also captivated Brendan - it is an undershot watermill, which means water flows underneath the waterwheel, striking the paddles at the bottom.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
Global silver supplies undershot demand for a fifth year in a row in 2025, according to the Silver Institute.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025
Revenue also undershot expectations, dropping 36% to 27.36 billion yuan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
“The company’s September quarter results exceeded our estimates at the gross margin and Ebitda level even as revenue undershot slightly, driven by production challenges,” the firm wrote following Monday’s report.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
I look down and my heart drops; I just undershot it.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
But spending appeared to lose steam, undershooting expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal who instead expected growth of 0.4 percent.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
“The downside risks on the inflation outlook remain at least as significant as the upside risks, and we would not tolerate a lasting undershooting of our inflation target,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
Kroenke always told his development team that undershooting L.A. would be a huge mistake, that the opportunity here was immeasurable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
"Overall, there's more undershooting than overshooting of fertility ideals," she says.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2025
Employers added 175,000 positions in April, the Labor Department reported Friday, undershooting forecasts.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2024
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.
