shootdown

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noun

The shooting down of an aircraft, satellite, etc.

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Meanings

nounshootdown (plural shootdowns)

plural shootdowns

  1. The shooting down of an aircraft, satellite, etc.

    Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who personally gave the order to go ahead with the satellite shootdown Wednesday, told reporters in Hawaii on Thursday that he was prepared to share some details of the operation with China to ease its concerns that the debris might still prove dangerous.

    2008 February 22, Thom Shanker, “An Errant Satellite Is Gone, but Questions Linger”, in New York Times

Origin

Deverbal from shoot down.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Abschießen, Abschuss
  • Abschießenshooting down of an aircraft
  • Abschussshooting down of an aircraft

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

downshoot
Cite this entry
APA

shootdown. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shootdown

MLA

“shootdown.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shootdown. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shootdown,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shootdown.

Source: shootdown on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.