shoot

Formsshoots, shooting, shot

Pluralshoots

1. 1
   hit a targetverbtransitive

   To strike and wound or kill a person or animal, or hit a target, with a projectile fired from a weapon.

   The marksman shot the distant target dead center.

   Guards have orders to shoot anyone crossing the perimeter.

   UsageShoot someone means the shot hit; shoot at someone says only where it was aimed. Also shoot someone dead.

   Similarhit

   Note

   The reflexive is common and blunt: in C. Hamilton Ellis's Railway Magazine piece of 1945, the unfortunate director "shot himself."

2. 2
   make a filmverbtransitive or intransitive

   To record a film, video, or scene, or to take photographs of a subject, using a camera.

   The team shot the documentary across five countries.

   We shoot at dawn to catch the best light.

   UsageOften passive with a place: shot in France, shot on location. Crews also say we shoot tomorrow, with no object.

   Similarfilm, photograph, record, tape

3. 3
   act of firingnounobsolete

   The act of discharging a missile or firing a weapon; a single shot.

   The Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot.

   1627, Francis [Bacon], Sylua Syluarum

   One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk.

   1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion

   Note

   The older noun for a single discharge. Francis Bacon writes that the Turkish bow gives "a very forcible shoot." Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion, Part II (1622), has a hunter stalking beneath his horse "to get a shoot." Modern English says shot here. A shoot today is an organized hunt or a photo session, so "his first shoot missed" reads as a mistake. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Shoot historically meant a single discharge or shot. en.wiktionary.org
   • Francis Bacon described the Turkish bow as giving "a very forcible shoot." en.wiktionary.org
   • The passage is from Sylva Sylvarum, first published posthumously with a letterpress title page dated 1626; variants bear 1627. celm.folger.edu
   • Michael Drayton's Poly-Olbion describes someone stalking beneath his horse "to get a shoot." en.wiktionary.org
   • The quotation occurs in Song 25, in Part II, first published in 1622. The first part appeared in 1612. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   let off (gun)verbtransitive

   To fire a gun, bow, or other weapon so that it sends out a bullet, arrow, or other projectile; also said of the weapon itself.

   The recruit shot the rifle for the first time.

   You should never shoot a firearm without proper training.

   UsageThe past is shot (not incorrect: shooted): she shot the rifle, she has shot it before.

   Similarfire, discharge

5. 5
   photo sessionnouncountable

   A session in which photographs are taken, especially for professional work.

   The magazine shoot took place in an abandoned warehouse.

   Several shoots were canceled because of the storm.

   UsageOften with a word before it: a photo shoot, a fashion shoot, a magazine shoot.

   Similarsession

   Note

   It stretches to filming too. Tim Dunn, writing in RAIL in 2021 about making a television series on the London Underground, spent happy hours "between shoots" digging through old plans and maps. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Tim Dunn wrote in RAIL in 2021 about making a London Underground television series and spending happy hours “between shoots” examining plans and maps. railmagazine.com
6. 6
   send flyingverbtransitive

   To send out forcefully and suddenly; to hurl, cast, or emit.

   Geysers shoot scalding water dozens of feet into the air.

   She shot the ball toward the open goal.

   Similarpropel, hurl, eject, fire, spurt

   Note

   The widest of the sending senses, and it explains some trade talk. A weaver "shot shuttle" through the threads in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Coxcomb, which is why weavers also call a weft thread a shoot. Macaulay's dead carts "shot corpses by scores" into a pit, tipping a load out all at once, the way coal is shot down a chute. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The Coxcomb was written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. en.wikipedia.org
   • The Coxcomb describes a weaver using the exact words “shot shuttle”; the speaker is the Justice. gutenberg.org
   • The weaving noun “shoot” denotes a weft thread sent through the shed by the shuttle, explaining its connection with the sending sense. en.wiktionary.org
   • Macaulay describes dead carts discharging corpses into a pit, using the exact words “shot corpses by scores”. gutenberg.org
7. 7
   score (golf)verbtransitive

   To achieve a specified score, especially in golf or shooting sports.

   The golfer shot a career-best 65 on Sunday.

   Few amateurs ever shoot under par on this course.

   UsageThe object is the total score, often with a: shot a 76; also shoot par, shoot under par.

   Similarscore, card, post

8. 8
   zoomverbintransitive

   To move very quickly and suddenly in a particular direction.

   A deer shot out of the woods and across the highway.

   Flames shoot up whenever fat hits the open grill.

   UsageUsually with a word saying where: shot past, shot out of the woods, shoot up.

   Similardart, bolt, dash, race, leap

   Note

   Mark Twain's narrator, in 1884, "shot past the head" of an island on a swift current. In the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897), a party "shot into a clearing." Scores and prices can do it too, shooting past rivals.

9. 9
   young stemnouncountable

   The young stem and first leaves of a plant as it begins to grow.

   A single shoot emerged from the seed within a week.

   Gardeners pinch back the new shoots to encourage bushier growth.

   Similarsprout, sprig, stem, bud

   Note

   Gardeners and foresters have long used the noun. John Evelyn's Sylva (1664) advises pruning "shoots of this second spring." Its favorite figurative use is green shoots, meaning early signs of revival. Philip Haigh's 2024 RAIL column saw "green shoots pushing through the ashes" of the HS2 decision. The noun grows from the sprouting verb. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

   • The plant noun has a long history in gardening and forestry. gutenberg.org
   • John Evelyn wrote Sylva, first published as a book in 1664. en.wikipedia.org
   • The work advises pruning and contains the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
   • Green shoots figuratively denotes early signs of recovery. en.wikipedia.org
   • Philip Haigh used the quoted image about the HS2 decision in RAIL in 2024. en.wiktionary.org
   • The plant noun derives from the verb shoot. upload.wikimedia.org
10. 10
    go huntingverbintransitive

    To hunt birds or game with a gun, especially as a sport.

    The party went out to shoot over the moors at dawn.

    Wealthy landowners often shoot on their own estates each season.

    UsagePeople shoot over moors or on an estate, and the outing itself is a shoot.

    Similarhunt

    Note

    A sporting use with its own preposition trap. When John Buchan's narrator says that he had "shot at" the House of More, he means he had hunted there, not aimed at the building. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Buchan's story contains the words "shot at" referring to the House of More. en.wikisource.org
    • The passage refers to hunting at the property rather than firing at the building. en.wikisource.org
11. 11
    gun sport eventnouncountable

    An organized hunt or a competition involving the firing of guns.

    The estate hosts a grouse shoot each fall.

    She won first place at the charity clay shoot.

    Similarhunt, competition, contest

12. 12
    roll diceverbtransitive or intransitive

    To roll or toss the dice in a game played for money.

    He blew on the dice for luck before he stepped up to shoot.

    They spent the night shooting craps in a Las Vegas casino and lost most of their savings.

    UsageOften shoot dice or shoot craps, or with no object for taking a turn.

    Similarroll, throw

    Note

    The verb can stand alone and mark a turn. In John Scarne's Scarne on Dice (first published in 1945), when a player's turn to shoot comes, he catches the dice the stickman throws to him. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • John Scarne wrote Scarne on Dice. openlibrary.org
    • The cited passage describes a player catching dice thrown by the stickman when his turn to shoot arrives. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    race throughverbtransitive

    To pass rapidly over or through something, such as a stretch of fast-moving water.

    Only experienced paddlers should try to shoot the rapids below the dam.

    The canoe shot the narrow channel under the old bridge before anyone could shout a warning.

    UsageMost often in shoot the rapids.

    Similarrun, navigate, negotiate

    Note

    The thing shot here is the passage itself, so a crew shoots the rapids or the bridge, and the phrase carries speed and risk. The use is old: John Dryden's Virgil (1697) speaks of shooting the Stygian sound, and in R. G. Crouch's The Coat (2005) there comes a time when watermen would not shoot the bridge even with no passenger aboard. Without an object the verb slides into sudden movement. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • John Dryden translated Virgil. gutenberg.org
    • Dryden's translation of Virgil was first published in 1697. collections.soane.org
    • Dryden's translation contains a passage about shooting the Stygian sound. gutenberg.org
    • R. G. Crouch's The Coat was published in 2005. libguides.marist.edu
    • The Coat describes an approaching time when watermen would refuse to shoot the bridge even without a passenger. en.wiktionary.org

Showing meanings only. Show all 43