I. shoot 1 S2 W2 /ʃuːt/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle shot /ʃɒt $ ʃɑːt/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sceotan ]
1 . KILL/INJURE [transitive] to deliberately kill or injure someone using a gun:
Police shot one suspect when he pulled a gun on them.
Smith killed his wife, and then shot himself.
A woman was shot dead in an attempted robbery.
shoot somebody in the leg/head etc
He had been shot in the back while trying to escape.
The guards have orders to shoot intruders on sight (=shoot them as soon as they see them) .
2 . FIRE A GUN ETC [intransitive and transitive] to make a bullet or ↑ arrow come from a weapon:
Don’t shoot! I’m coming out with my hands up.
shoot at
Two guys walked in and started shooting at people.
The soldiers had orders to shoot to kill (=shoot at someone with the intention of killing them) .
shoot bullets/arrows
They shot arrows from behind the thick bushes.
shoot a gun/rifle etc
Tod’s grandfather taught him to shoot a rifle.
3 . BIRDS/ANIMALS [intransitive and transitive] to shoot and kill animals or birds as a sport:
They spent the weekend in Scotland shooting grouse.
4 . MOVE QUICKLY [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] to move quickly in a particular direction, or to make something move in this way:
She shot past me into the house.
The cat shot across the garden.
‘Where does cotton come from?’ Ron’s hand shot up. ‘America, Miss!’
The fountain shoots water 20 feet into the air.
5 . TRY TO SCORE [intransitive and transitive] to kick or throw a ball in a sport such as football or ↑ basketball towards the place where you can get a point:
Giggs shot from the halfway line.
6 . LOOK AT SOMEBODY shoot somebody a look/glance ( also shoot a glance at somebody ) to look at someone quickly, especially so that other people do not see, to show them how you feel
shoot somebody a quick/sharp/warning etc look/glance
‘You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.’ Michelle shot him a furious glance.
Jack shot an anxious look at his mother.
7 . PHOTOGRAPH/FILM [intransitive and transitive] to take photographs or make a film of something SYN film :
The movie was shot in New Zealand.
8 . PAIN [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if pain shoots through your body, you feel it going quickly through it
shoot through/along
A sharp pain suddenly shot along his arm.
shooting pains (=continuous short pains passing through your body)
9 . shoot it out (with somebody) if people shoot it out, they fight using guns, especially until one person or group is killed or defeated by the other:
a scene in which the cops shoot it out with the drug dealers
10 . shoot yourself in the foot to say or do something stupid that will cause you a lot of trouble:
If he keeps talking, pretty soon he’ll shoot himself in the foot.
11 . shoot questions at somebody to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly:
The prosecutor shot a series of rapid questions at Hendrickson.
12 . shoot your mouth off informal to talk about something that you should not talk about or that you know nothing about:
Don’t go shooting your mouth off.
13 . shoot the bull/breeze American English informal to have an informal conversation about unimportant things:
Cal and I were sitting on the porch, shooting the breeze.
14 . shoot American English spoken used to tell someone to start speaking:
‘I have a few questions.’ ‘OK, shoot.’
15 . shoot from the hip to say what you think in a direct way, or make a decision very quickly, without thinking about it first
16 . shoot to fame/stardom/prominence to suddenly become very famous:
Brian, an air steward, shot to fame on the television show ‘Big Brother’.
17 . shoot to number one/to the top of the charts etc to suddenly become very successful in the popular music CHARTS (=the list of records that have sold the most copies that week) :
Westlife’s new album shot straight to the top of the charts.
18 . shoot hoops/baskets informal to practise throwing ↑ basketball s into the basket
19 . shoot the rapids to sail a small boat along a river that is moving very fast over rocks, as a sport:
He was shooting the rapids when his canoe capsized.
20 . shoot pool informal to play the game of ↑ pool
21 . shoot craps American English informal to play the game of CRAPS
22 . PLANTS [intransitive] if a plant shoots, a new part of it starts to grow, especially a new stem and leaves
23 . LOCK ON A DOOR [transitive] to move the ↑ bolt on a door so that it is in the locked or unlocked position
24 . have shot your bolt British English , have shot your wad American English informal to have used all of your money, power, energy etc
25 . shoot your load informal to ↑ ejaculate
⇨ blame/shoot the messenger at ↑ messenger 1 (2)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ shoot verb [intransitive and transitive] to use a gun to fire bullets, or to kill or injure someone using a gun:
He ordered his men to stop shooting.
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The guards shot the man as he was trying to escape.
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President Kennedy was shot by a lone gunman.
▪ fire verb [intransitive and transitive] to shoot bullets from a gun, or send an explosive object towards someone or something:
Soldiers fired into the crowd.
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Helicopters fired rockets at several buildings.
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He regained his balance, took aim, and fired.
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The police fired into the air to make the crowd break up.
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As soon as we crossed the border, enemy troops started firing at us.
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Kendrick fired three shots at the President’s car.
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Suddenly the car stopped, and the passenger got out and fired a Kalashnikov rifle at the police car.
▪ launch verb [transitive] to send a large rocket or ↑ missile into the air:
American warships launched cruise missiles.
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The guerrillas launched their rockets from densely populated towns.
▪ open fire to start shooting:
Nineteen students were injured after a gunman opened fire.
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Troops opened fire on a group of unarmed demonstrators.
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The colonel gave the order for the soldiers to open fire.
▪ shell verb [transitive] to fire shells (=metal containers filled with an explosive substance) at enemy soldiers, cities etc in a war, using large guns:
Border towns have been shelled by enemy aircraft for the past two months.
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British warships began shelling German positions along the coast.
▪ bombard verb [transitive] to attack a place for a long time with shells or bombs:
Allied forces bombarded the coast prior to the invasion.
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Troops bombarded the area with shells.
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The allied forces bombarded the enemy trenches for weeks.
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Cromwell’s men had been bombarding the fort with their artillery for several days.
▪ take a potshot at somebody/something to shoot at someone or something without aiming very carefully:
Someone tried to take a potshot at him, but hit the man behind instead.
shoot somebody/something ↔ down phrasal verb
1 . to make an enemy plane crash to the ground, by firing weapons at it:
His plane was shot down over France in 1944.
2 . to kill or seriously injure someone by shooting them, especially someone who cannot defend themselves:
The army were accused of shooting down unarmed demonstrators.
3 . informal to say or show that someone’s ideas or opinions are wrong or stupid:
I tried to help, but all my suggestions were shot down in flames, as usual.
shoot for/at something phrasal verb especially American English informal
to try to achieve a particular aim, especially one that is very difficult SYN aim for :
We are shooting for a 50% increase in sales in the next financial year.
shoot off phrasal verb British English informal
to leave somewhere quickly or suddenly:
Sorry, but I’ll have to shoot off before the end of the meeting.
shoot through phrasal verb
Australian English informal to leave a place quickly, especially in order to avoid someone or something ⇨ be shot through with something at ↑ shot 2 (3)
shoot up phrasal verb
1 . to increase very quickly and suddenly SYN rocket :
Demand for water has shot up by 70% over the last 30 years.
2 . if a child shoots up, he or she grows taller very quickly and suddenly:
I can’t believe this is Joshua – he’s shot up since we last saw him!
3 . shoot somebody/something ↔ up to cause serious injury or damage to someone or something by shooting them with bullets:
Then two men came in and shot up the entire lobby.
4 . shoot up (something) informal to put illegal drugs into your blood, using a needle SYN inject :
Kids as young as ten are shooting up heroin.
II. shoot 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . the part of a plant that comes up above the ground when it is just beginning to grow, or a new part that grows on an existing plant:
Tender green shoots will appear in February.
2 . an occasion when someone takes photographs or makes a film:
a photo shoot sponsored by Kodak
on a shoot
She’s out on a video shoot.
3 . an occasion when people shoot birds or animals for sport, or the area of land where they do this
on a shoot
The royal party was on a shoot when the incident occurred.
4 . green shoots (of recovery) British English the first sign that a situation is improving, especially an economic situation
III. shoot 3 BrE AmE interjection American English informal
[ Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: Used to avoid saying shit ]
used to show that you are annoyed or disappointed about something:
Oh, shoot! I forgot to buy milk.