Wiktionary

shoot

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English shoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”).

Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian sjitte, Low German scheten, Dutch schieten, German schießen, Danish skyde, Norwegian Bokmål skyte, Norwegian Nynorsk skyta, Swedish skjuta; and also, through Indo-European, with Russian кида́ть (kidátʹ), Albanian hedh (“to throw, toss”), Persian چست‎ (čost, “quick, active”), Lithuanian skudrùs.

VerbEdit

shoot (third-person singular simple present shoots, present participle shooting, simple past shot, past participle shot or (rare) shotten)

  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).
      Synonym: (of an arrow) loose
    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.
      The hunter shot the deer to harvest its meat.
      • 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 252:
        The unfortunate Divisional Director, responsible for the Emperor's safety, shot himself.
      • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria:
        Shepard: She's surrounded by geth and pointing a gun at us. Shoot her!
    4. (intransitive) To cause a weapon to discharge a projectile.
      They shot at a target.
      He shoots better than he rides.
    5. (intransitive) To hunt birds, etc. with a gun.
      They're coming to shoot with us on Sunday.
    6. (transitive) To hunt on (a piece of land); to kill game in or on.
      • 1969, Game Conservancy (Great Britain), Annual Review (issues 1-8, page 16)
        Although the estate had been shot previously, there had been no effective keepering and little success with the pheasants released.
    7. (gambling) To throw dice.
      • 1980, John Scarne, Scarne on Dice (page 275)
        Then, when it was his turn to shoot, he reached out with a completely empty hand and caught the dice the stickman threw to him.
    8. (transitive, slang) To ejaculate.
      After a very short time, he shot his load over the carpet.
    9. (intransitive, usually, as imperative) To begin to speak.
      "Can I ask you a question?"   "Shoot."
    10. (intransitive) To discharge a missile; said of a weapon.
      The gun shoots well.
    11. (transitive, figurative) To dismiss or do away with.
      His idea was shot on sight.
    12. (transitive, intransitive, analogous) To photograph.
      He shot the couple in a variety of poses.
      He shot seventeen stills.
      • 2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 68:
        I had the pleasure of shooting Arnold Newman while teaching across the hall from him at a summer photo workshop.
    13. (transitive, intransitive, analogous, film, television) To film.
      The film was mostly shot in France.
    14. (transitive) To push or thrust a bolt quickly; hence, to open a lock.
  2. To move or act quickly or suddenly.
    1. (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.
    2. To go over or pass quickly through.
      shoot the rapids
      • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
        She […] shoots the Stygian sound.
      • 2005, R. G. Crouch, The Coat: The Origin and Times of Doggett's Famous Wager (page 40)
        It was approaching the time when watermen would not shoot the bridge even without a passenger aboard.
    3. (transitive) To tip (something, especially coal) down a chute.
    4. (transitive) To penetrate, like a missile; to dart with a piercing sensation.
      a shooting pain in my leg
    5. (obsolete, intransitive) To feel a quick, darting pain; to throb in pain.
      • [1633], George Herbert, [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885, →OCLC:
        These preachers make / His head to shoot and ache.
    6. (obsolete) To change form suddenly; especially, to solidify.
      • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
        If the menstruum be overcharged, metals will shoot into crystals.
      • 1802, Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query VII.
        The north-east [wind] is loaded with vapor, insomuch, that the salt-makers have found that their crystals would not shoot while that blows.
    7. To send out or forth, especially with a rapid or sudden motion; to cast with the hand; to hurl; to discharge; to emit.
    8. (informal, transitive) To send to someone.
      I'll shoot you an email with all the details
  3. (sports) 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.
  4. (surveying) To measure the distance and direction to (a point).
  5. (transitive, intransitive, colloquial) To inject a drug (such as heroin) intravenously.
  6. To develop, move forward.
    1. To germinate; to bud; to sprout.
      • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
        Onions, as they hang, will shoot forth.
      • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
        But the wild olive shoots, and shades the ungrateful plain.
    2. To grow; to advance.
      to shoot up rapidly
    3. (nautical) To move ahead by force of momentum, as a sailing vessel when the helm is put hard alee.
    4. (transitive) To travel or ride on (breaking waves) rowards the shore.
    5. To push or thrust forward; to project; to protrude; often with out.
      A plant shoots out a bud.
  7. To protrude; to jut; to project; to extend.
    The land shoots into a promontory.
  8. (carpentry) To plane straight; to fit by planing.
    • 1677, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-works
      two Pieces of Wood are Shot (that is Plained) or else they are Pared [...] with a Pairing-chissel
  9. To variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches.W
  10. (card games) To shoot the moon.
  11. (aviation) To carry out, or attempt to carry out (an approach to an airport runway).
    He tried to shoot the visual approach to runway 12, but the visibility was too low.
  12. To carry out a seismic survey with geophones in an attempt to detect oil.
    • 1986, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Moratoria: Hearing (page 438)
      Once the area is ready to "shoot," the seismic crew places geophones and cables along the line of the profile to be recorded.
ConjugationEdit
Conjugation of shoot
infinitive (to) shoot
present tense past tense
1st-person singular shoot shot, shooted†
2nd-person singular shoot, shootest† shot, shooted†, shootedst†
3rd-person singular shoots, shooteth† shot, shooted†
plural shoot
subjunctive shoot shot, shooted†
imperative shoot —
participles shooting shot, shooted†, shotten†

†Archaic or obsolete.

QuotationsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from shoot (verb)
DescendantsEdit
  • → Catalan: xut
  • → Greek: σουτ (sout)
  • → Persian: شوت‎ (šut)
  • → Portuguese: chuto, chute, chutar
  • → Romanian: șut
  • → Vietnamese: sút
TranslationsEdit
to sprout - of a plant
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

NounEdit

shoot (plural shoots)

  1. The emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new plant.
  2. A photography session.
    • 2021 June 30, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 50:
      While you see some of our exploration on camera, I also spent many happy hours between shoots with Chris Nix, digging out dozens of wonderful plans, maps and drawings of projects that I never knew existed, and some that never did exist.
  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.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:
      The Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot.
    • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion
      One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk.
  6. A rush of water; a rapid.
  7. (weaving) A weft thread shot through the shed by the shuttle; a pick.
  8. A shoat; a young pig.
  9. (mining) A vein of ore running in the same general direction as the lode.
    • 1853, Thomas McElrath, William Jewett Tenney, William Phipps Blake, The Mining Magazine and Journal of Geology, Mineralogy, Metallurgy:
      where to find a shoot of ore opposite one they may have taken away on a parallel lode
    • 1901, Frank Lee Hess, pubs.usgs.gov report. Rare Metals. TIN, TUNGSTEN, AND TANTALUM IN SOUTH DAKOTA.
      In the western dike is a shoot about 4 feet in diameter carrying a considerable sprinkling of cassiterite, ore which in quantity would undoubtedly be worth mining. The shoot contains a large amount of muscovite mica with quartz and very little or no feldspar...
  10. An inclined plane, either artificial or natural, down which timber, coal, ore, etc., are caused to slide; a chute.
    • 1891, New South Wales. Supreme Court, The New South Wales Law Reports (volume 12, page 238)
      That there was no evidence before the jury that at the time of the accident the timber shoot was worked by the defendant company.
  11. (card games) The act of taking all point cards in one hand.
  12. A seismic survey carried out with geophones in an attempt to detect oil.
    • 1980, The Williston Basin, 1980 (page 159)
      Once the last line of cable has been retrieved, there is little evidence that a shoot has been conducted.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for shoot in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)

Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Minced oath for shit.

InterjectionEdit

shoot

  1. A mild expletive, expressing disbelief or disdain
    Didn't you have a concert tonight? —Shoot! I forgot! I have to go and get ready…
    • 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 96:
      She practically stopped dancing, and started looking over everybody’s heads to see if she could see him. “Oh, shoot!” she said. I'd just about broken her heart—I really had.
SynonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

AnagramsEdit

FrenchEdit

NounEdit

shoot m (plural shoots)

  1. shot (in sports)
  2. shoot 'em up
  3. shot (of drugs)
  4. photoshoot

Further readingEdit

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