Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shoot down

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.70 in modern English

Syllables: shoot -down
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause to fall by shooting.

Transitive verb

verb

To criticize (a request) to the point of preclusion.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"The carnival game involved shooting down tin cans."
"My grandfather shot down several fighter planes in the war."
"Stop using your words as weapons / They're never gonna shoot me down / Stop, it's time that you learned a lesson / My love is gonna drown you out"
"In China, authorities said they might soon shoot down an unidentified flying object over waters near the northern city of Rizhao, The South China Morning Post reported."
"Every proposal I made was shot down at once."

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

shoots down (present, singular) shooting down (participle, present) shot down (participle, past) shot down (past)

Derived Forms

shootdown

Phrases

cut down

Frequently Paired Words

cut down

Synonyms

down land tear shoot charge buck kill defeat vote down vote out

Questions

What does shoot down mean?: To cause to fall by shooting.

How to pronounce shoot down

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shoot down”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shoot down”.
Repeat and practice — Say “shoot down” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.