• Shoot

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ʃuːt/
    • Rhymes: -uːt
    • Homophones: chute

    Origin 1

    From Middle English shoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keud-. Cognate with West Frisian sjitte, Low German scheten, Dutch schieten, German schießen, Danish skyde, Swedish skjuta; and also, through Indo-European, with Russian кидать, Albanian hedh ("to throw, toss") and Lithuanian skudrùs.

    Full definition of shoot

    Verb

    1. To launch a projectile.
      1. (transitive) To fire (a weapon that releases a projectile).
        to shoot a gun
      2. (transitive) To fire (a projectile).
      3. (transitive) To fire a projectile at (a person or target).
        The man, in a desperate bid for freedom, grabbed his gun and started shooting anyone he could.
        He was shot by a police officer.
      4. (intransitive) To cause a weapon to discharge a projectile.
        They shot at a target.
        He shoots better than he rides.
      5. (intransitive) To discharge a missile; said of a weapon.
        The gun shoots well.
      6. (transitive, figurative) To dismiss or do away with.
        His idea was shot on sight.
      7. (transitive, analogous) To photograph.
        He shot the couple in a variety of poses.
        He shot seventeen stills.
      8. To move or act quickly or suddenly.
        1. (intransitive, usually, as imperative) To begin to speak.
          "Can I ask you a question?"   "Shoot."
        2. (intransitive) To move very quickly and suddenly.
          After an initial lag, the experimental group's scores shot past the control group's scores in the fourth week.
          • John Dryden (1631-1700)There shot a streaming lamp along the sky.
          • 1884: Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter VIIIt 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.
          • 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 8, 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.
        3. To go over or pass quickly through.
          shoot the rapids
        4. (slang) To ejaculate.
          After a very short time, he shot his load over the carpet.
        5. (transitive) To tip (something, especially coal) down a chute.
        6. (transitive) To penetrate, like a missile; to dart with a piercing sensation.
          a shooting pain in my leg
        7. (obsolete, intransitive) To feel a quick, darting pain; to throb in pain.
          • George Herbert (1593-1633)These preachers make
            His head to shoot and ache.
        8. (obsolete) To change form suddenly; especially, to solidify.
          • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)If the menstruum be overcharged, metals will shoot into crystals.
        9. To send out or forth, especially with a rapid or sudden motion; to cast with the hand; to hurl; to discharge; to emit.
      9. (sport) To act or achieve.
        1. (wrestling) To lunge.
        2. (professional wrestling) To 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. To make the stated score.
          In my round of golf yesterday I shot a 76.
      10. (surveying) To measure the distance and direction to (a point).
      11. (transitive, intransitive, colloquial) To inject a drug (such as heroin) intravenously.
      12. To develop, move forward.
        1. To germinate; to bud; to sprout.
          • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)Onions, as they hang, will shoot forth.
          • John Dryden (1631-1700)But the wild olive shoots, and shades the ungrateful plain.
        2. To grow; to advance.
          to shoot up rapidly
          • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)Well shot in years he seemed.
          • James Thomson (1700-1748)Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
            To teach the young idea how to shoot.
        3. (nautical) To move ahead by force of momentum, as a sailing vessel when the helm is put hard alee.
        4. To push or thrust forward; to project; to protrude; often with out.
          A plant shoots out a bud.
          • Bible, Psalms xxii. 7They shoot out the lip, they shake the head.
          • John Dryden (1631-1700)Beware the secret snake that shoots a sting.
      13. To protrude; to jut; to project; to extend.
        The land shoots into a promontory.
        • Charles Dickens (1812-1870)There shot up against the dark sky, tall, gaunt, straggling houses.
      14. (carpentry) To plane straight; to fit by planing.
        • Edward Moxon (1801-1858)two pieces of wood that are shot, that is, planed or else pared with a paring chisel
      15. To variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches.
    W
      • Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)The tangled water courses slept,
        Shot over with purple, and green, and yellow.

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from shoot (verb)

    Noun

    shoot

    (plural shoots)
    1. The emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new plant.
      • EvelynSuperfluous branches and shoots of this second spring.
    2. A photography session.
    3. A hunt or shooting competition.
    4. (professional wrestling, slang) An event that is unscripted or legitimate.
    5. The act of shooting; the discharge of a missile; a shot.
      • Francis BaconThe Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot.
      • DraytonOne underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk.
    6. A rush of water; a rapid.
    7. (mining) A vein of ore running in the same general direction as the lode.
    8. (weaving) A weft thread shot through the shed by the shuttle; a pick.
    9. A shoat; a young pig.
    10. An inclined plane, either artificial or natural, down which timber, coal, etc., are caused to slide; a chute.

    Derived terms

    Origin 2

    minced oath for shit

    Interjection

    1. A mild expletive, expressing disbelief or disdainDidn't you have a concert tonight?Shoot! I forgot! I have to go and get ready...

    Synonyms

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