shoot

present singular third person shoots · participle present shooting · past shot · participle past shot · participle past rare shotten · first person past singular shot · archaic first person past singular shooted · archaic present second person singular shootest · past second person singular shot · archaic past second person singular shooted · archaic past second person singular shootedst · archaic past second person singular shotst · archaic past second person singular shottest · present singular third person shoots · archaic present singular third person shooteth · past singular third person shot

1. To launch (forcefully project) (a projectile or similar object).
   1. transitiveTo fire (a weapon that releases a bullet or other projectile).

      to shoot a gun

   2. transitiveTo fire or launch (a projectile).

      If you please / To shoot an arrow that self way.

      c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]

      Synonyms: loose

   3. transitiveTo fire a projectile at (a person or target).

      The hunter shot the deer to harvest its meat.

      4 more examples

      The man, in a desperate bid for freedom, grabbed his gun and started shooting anyone he could.

      The unfortunate Divisional Director, responsible for the Emperor's safety, shot himself.

      1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 252

      Shepard: She's surrounded by geth and pointing a gun at us. Shoot her!

      2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria

      I shoot Mr. Marlow twice, severing jugulars and cartoids with near surgical precision. He will die watching me take what is his away from him. This is my design.

      2013 April 4, Hannibal, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Will Graham (Hugh Dancy)

   4. intransitiveTo cause a weapon to discharge a projectile; to use a gun or similar weapon.

      They shot at a target.

      2 more examples

      He shoots better than he rides.

      The man, in a desperate bid for freedom, grabbed his gun and started shooting.

   5. intransitiveTo hunt game with a gun; to go hunting for recreation.

      They're coming to shoot with us on Sunday.

      1 more example

      The place was called the House of More, and I had shot at it once or twice in recent years.

      1899 January – 1902 January, John Buchan, “(please specify the page)”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and Other Tales, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1902, →OCLC

   6. transitiveTo hunt on (a piece of land) with a gun; to kill game in or on.

      Although the estate had been shot previously, there had been no effective keepering and little success with the pheasants released.

      1969, Game Conservancy (Great Britain), Annual Review (issues 1-8, page 16)

   7. intransitiveTo function as a weapon that launches a projectile.

      The gun shoots well.

   8. intransitivegamblingTo throw dice; to roll.

      Then, when it was his turn to shoot, he reached out with a completely empty hand and caught the dice the stickman threw to him.

      1980, John Scarne, Scarne on Dice, page 275

   9. slangtransitiveTo ejaculate.

      After a very short time, he shot his load over the carpet.

   10. colloquialimperativeintransitiveTo begin to speak.

       "Can I ask you a question?" "Shoot."

       1 more example

       "And now," I suggested, "I think it's about time we began to rough out a plan of campaign. Shall I throw around a few observations first?" […] Josella blew out a feather of smoke and took a sip of her drink. Savouring the flavour, she said: "I wonder whether we shall ever taste fresh oranges again? Okay, shoot."

       1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 92

   11. figurativelytransitiveTo dismiss, reject, or do away with.

       His idea was shot on sight.

   12. ambitransitiveanalogousTo photograph.

       He shot seventeen stills.

       3 more examples

       He shot the couple in a variety of poses.

       We can't shoot until the lighting is better. (intransitive)

       I had the pleasure of shooting Arnold Newman while teaching across the hall from him at a summer photo workshop.

       2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 68

   13. ambitransitiveanalogousbroadcastingTo film.

       The film was mostly shot in France.

       1 more example

       On June 26, Jodi went to Vansice’s home to watch a homemade videotape he had shot at a surprise birthday party he helped organize for her earlier that month.

       2026 August 10, Nicholas Muhoro, “Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Vanished From Her Apartment Parking Lot in 1995. Police Found Signs of a Struggle”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2026

   14. transitiveTo push or thrust (a bolt) quickly; hence, to open (a lock); to unlock.

       There was no answer, so I took the big key, rubbed some salad oil into the wards, and after one or two bad shots, for my hands were shaking, managed to fit it, and shoot the lock.

       1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

2. To move or act quickly or suddenly.
   1. intransitiveTo move past very quickly and suddenly.

      As soon as the dog appeared, the cat shot underneath the couch.

      4 more examples

      After an initial lag, the experimental group's scores shot past the control group's scores in the fourth week.

      There shot a streaming lamp along the sky.

      1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

      It didn't take me long to get there. I shot past the head at a ripping rate, the current was so swift, and then I got into the dead water and landed on the side towards the Illinois shore.

      1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC

      Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges[...]: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   2. transitiveTo go over or pass quickly through.

      shoot the rapids

      2 more examples

      She […] shoots the Stygian sound.

      1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

      It was approaching the time when watermen would not shoot the bridge even without a passenger aboard.

      2005, R. G. Crouch, The Coat: The Origin and Times of Doggett's Famous Wager, page 40

   3. hobbiesTo ride a wave.

      One of the fishermen was really stoked. He was trying to shoot the shore break in his canoe.

      1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer

   4. transitiveTo tip (something, especially coal) down a chute.
   5. transitiveTo penetrate with pain as if with a bullet; to stab; to cause a piercing sensation.

      a shooting pain in my leg

      1 more example

      Thy words shoot through my heart.

      1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 37

   6. intransitiveobsoleteTo feel a quick, darting pain; to throb in pain.

      These preachers make / His head to shoot and ache.

      [1633], George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC

   7. obsoleteTo change form suddenly; especially, to solidify.

      1802, Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query VII. The north-east [wind] is loaded with vapor, insomuch, that the salt-makers have found that their crystals would not shoot while that blows.

      1 more example

      If the menstruum be overcharged, metals will shoot into crystals.

      1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

   8. To send out or forth, especially with a rapid or sudden motion; to cast with the hand; to hurl; to discharge; to emit.

      an honest weaver as ever shot shuttle

      c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Coxcomb”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)

      1 more example

      a pit into which the dead carts had nightly shot corpses by scores

      1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC

   9. ditransitiveinformalTo send (to someone).

      I'll shoot you an email with all the details

   10. informalintransitiveTo leave; to depart.

       Is that the time already? I've got to shoot.

3. To act or achieve.
   1. governmentTo lunge.
   2. governmentTo deviate from kayfabe, either intentionally or accidentally; to actually connect with unchoreographed fighting blows and maneuvers, or speak one's mind (instead of an agreed script).
   3. hobbiesTo make (the stated score).

      In my round of golf yesterday I shot a 76.

4. colloquialintransitivetransitiveTo inject a drug (such as heroin) intravenously.

   Synonyms: fix

5. To develop, move forward.
   1. To germinate; to bud; to sprout.

      Onions, as they hang, will shoot forth.

      1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

      1 more example

      But the wild olive shoots, and shades the ungrateful plain.

      1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   2. To grow; to advance.

      to shoot up rapidly

      2 more examples

      Well shot in years he seemed.

      1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

      Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, / To teach the young idea how to shoot.

      a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC

   3. nauticalTo move ahead by force of momentum, as a sailing vessel when the helm is put hard alee.
   4. transitiveTo travel or ride on (breaking waves) towards the shore.

      `Take the tiller, Mahomed!' I roared in Arabic. `We must try and shoot them.' At the same moment I seized an oar, and got it out, motioning to Job to do likewise.

      1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   5. To push or thrust forward; to project; to protrude; often with out.

      A plant shoots out a bud.

      2 more examples

      They shoot out the lip, they shake the head.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 22:7

      Beware the secret snake that shoots a sting.

      1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 3”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

6. intransitiveTo protrude; to jut; to project; to extend.

   The land shoots into a promontory.

   2 more examples

   There is 432 Park Avenue, a surreal square tube of white concrete that appears to shoot twice as high as anything around it, its endless Cartesian grid of windows framing worlds of solid marble bathtubs and climate-controlled wine cellars within.

   2019 June 1, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Oct 2020

   There shot up against the dark sky, tall, gaunt, straggling houses.

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 49”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC

7. transitivebusinessTo plane straight; to fit by planing.

   two Pieces of Wood are Shot (that is Plained) or else they are Pared [...] with a Pairing-chissel

   1677, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-works

8. transitiveTo variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches. (See shot silk on Wikipedia)

   The tangled water-courses slept, / Shot over with purple, and green, and yellow.

   1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Dying Swan”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 54

9. card gamesTo shoot the moon.
10. transitiveaeronauticsTo carry out, or attempt to carry out (an approach to an airport runway).

    He tried to shoot the visual approach to runway 12, but the visibility was too low.

11. transitivegeographyTo measure the distance and direction to (a point).
12. To carry out a seismic survey with geophones in an attempt to detect oil.

    Once the area is ready to "shoot," the seismic crew places geophones and cables along the line of the profile to be recorded.

    1986, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Moratoria: Hearing, page 438

13. transitiveTo drink (a shot of an alcoholic beverage).

    You can kiss a hundred boys in bars Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling

    2024 April 5, Chappell Roan, Justin Tranter, Dan Nigro, “Good Luck, Babe!”performed by Chappell Roan

plural shoots

1. The emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new plant.

   Prune off yet also superfluous branches, and shoots of this second spring.

   1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   From the bonfire of last autumn's HS2 decision, there are green shoots pushing through the ashes.

   2024 April 3, Philip Haigh, “Comment: A new, better version of HS2”, in RAIL, number 1006, page 3

2. A photography session.

   "Hmm." "Problem?" "Arianna warned me this might be a challenging shoot. I think she was worried about you being belligerent, but the real issue is turning out to be your specularity. It looks like I'm taking pictures of a flashbang."

   2015 July 9, Dave Barrack, Grrl Power (webcomic), Grrl Power #334 – Make down

   1 more example

   While you see some of our exploration on camera, I also spent many happy hours between shoots with Chris Nix, digging out dozens of wonderful plans, maps and drawings of projects that I never knew existed, and some that never did exist.

   2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 50

3. A hunt or shooting competition.
4. slanggovernmentAn event that is unscripted or legitimate.
5. The act of shooting; the discharge of a missile; a shot.

   The Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot.

   1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk.

   1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion

6. A rush of water; a rapid.
7. businessA weft thread shot through the shed by the shuttle; a pick.
8. A shoat; a young pig.
9. businessA vein of ore running in the same general direction as the lode.

   where to find a shoot of ore opposite one they may have taken away on a parallel lode

   1853, Thomas McElrath, William Jewett Tenney, William Phipps Blake, The Mining Magazine and Journal of Geology, Mineralogy, Metallurgy

   1 more example

   1901, Frank Lee Hess, pubs.usgs.gov report. Rare Metals. TIN, TUNGSTEN, AND TANTALUM IN SOUTH DAKOTA. In the western dike is a shoot about 4 feet in diameter carrying a considerable sprinkling of cassiterite, ore which in quantity would undoubtedly be worth mining. The shoot contains a large amount of muscovite mica with quartz and very little or no feldspar...

10. An inclined plane, either artificial or natural, down which timber, coal, ore, etc., are caused to slide; a chute.

    That there was no evidence before the jury that at the time of the accident the timber shoot was worked by the defendant company.

    1891, New South Wales. Supreme Court, The New South Wales Law Reports, volume 12, page 238

11. card gamesThe act of taking all point cards in one hand.
12. A seismic survey carried out with geophones in an attempt to detect oil.

    Once the last line of cable has been retrieved, there is little evidence that a shoot has been conducted.

    1980, The Williston Basin, 1980, page 159

1. A mild expletive, expressing disbelief or dismay

   Didn't you have a concert tonight? —Shoot! I forgot! I have to go and get ready…

   1 more example

   She practically stopped dancing, and started looking over everybody’s heads to see if she could see him. “Oh, shoot!” she said. I'd just about broken her heart—I really had.

   1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 96

   Synonyms: darn, dash, fiddlesticks, shucks, sugar