shoot down

verb

shot down; shooting down; shoots down

transitive verb

1
: to cause to fall by shooting
shot down the helicopter
especially : to kill in this way
was shot down in cold blood
2
: to put an end to : defeat, reject
shoot down legislation
3
4
: discredit sense 2
shoot down a theory

Examples of shoot down in a Sentence

nowadays the aging activist is routinely shot down in most quarters of the media and dismissed as an irrelevant crank every one of my fund-raising ideas was shot down by the other club members
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some of the unmanned aircraft were intercepted after crossing into Israel from Lebanon, while the others were shot down before entering the east of the country from the direction of Syria and Iraq, the IDF said. David Brennan, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2024 In Southern California, Culver City voters narrowly defeated a similar measure in 2022, while San Francisco voters also shot down such measures in 2016 and 2020. Meg Tanaka, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024 State of play: Pennsylvania's Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt (R) attempted to shoot down cheating claims during a media briefing Wednesday. Ivana Saric, Axios, 1 Nov. 2024 There is the sound of machine guns shooting down drones. Katya Soldak, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for shoot down 

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoot down was in 1657

Dictionary Entries Near shoot down

Cite this Entry

“Shoot down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoot%20down. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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