shoot the five

verb

To fight in hand-to-hand combat.

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Meanings

verbshoot the five (third-person singular simple present shoots the five, present participle shooting the five, simple past and past participle shot the five)

present singular third person shoots the five · participle present shooting the five · participle past shot the five · past shot the five

  1. intransitiveslangTo fight in hand-to-hand combat.

    Uncle Howie shot the five with that pig

    2020 July 31, “Watch The City Burn” (0:44 from the start)performed by Ill Bill ft. Lord Goat, Sabac Red
    2 more examples

    As I grew older I was told to be tougher / Gotta shoot the five to survive but I'm a rapper

    2011 April 18, “Suffer” (0:21 from the start)performed by M.anifest

    We'd sit there and they'd go at it and shoot the five until one dude was knocked out. It wasn't just entertainment for me like it was for most spectators. I wanted to watch so that I could learn.

    2018, U-God [Lamont Hawkins], Raw: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang, New York, N.Y.: Picador, →ISBN, page 31

Origin

In reference to the five fingers of a fist.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shoot the five. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoot%20the%20five

MLA

“shoot the five.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoot%20the%20five. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shoot the five,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoot%20the%20five.

Source: shoot the five on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.