shoot

Etymology 1

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.

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.
      The hunter shot the deer to harvest its meat.
      The unfortunate Divisional Director, responsible for the Emperor's safety, shot himself. 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 252
      Shepard: She's surrounded by geth and pointing a gun at us. Shoot her! 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria
   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.
      Although the estate had been shot previously, there had been no effective keepering and little success with the pheasants released. 1969, Game Conservancy (Great Britain), Annual Review (issues 1-8, page 16)
   7. (gambling) To throw dice.
      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. 1980, John Scarne, Scarne on Dice, page 275
   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.
       I had the pleasure of shooting Arnold Newman while teaching across the hall from him at a summer photo workshop. 2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, page 68
   13. (transitive, intransitive, analogous, film">film, television) To film">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
      It was approaching the time when watermen would not shoot the bridge even without a passenger aboard. 2005, R. G. Crouch, The Coat: The Origin and Times of Doggett's Famous Wager, page 40
   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.
   6. (obsolete) To change form suddenly; especially, to solidify.
      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, ditransitive) 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.
   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.
   There is 432 Park Avenue, a surreal square tube of white concrete that appears to shoot twice as high as anything around it, its endless Cartesian grid of windows framing worlds of solid marble bathtubs and climate-controlled wine cellars within. 1 June 2019, Oliver Wainwright, “Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-10-05
8. (carpentry) To plane straight; to fit by planing.
   two Pieces of Wood are Shot (that is Plained) or else they are Pared … with a Pairing-chissel 1677, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, The Doctrine of Handy-works
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.
    Once the area is ready to "shoot," the seismic crew places geophones and cables along the line of the profile to be recorded. 1986, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Moratoria: Hearing, page 438

noun

1. The emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new plant.
2. A photography session.
   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. June 30 2021, Tim Dunn, “How we made... Secrets of the London Underground”, in RAIL, number 934, page 50
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.
   One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk. 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion
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.
   where to find a shoot of ore opposite one they may have taken away on a parallel lode 1853, Thomas McElrath, William Jewett Tenney, William Phipps Blake, The Mining Magazine and Journal of Geology, Mineralogy, Metallurgy
   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.
    That there was no evidence before the jury that at the time of the accident the timber shoot was worked by the defendant company. 1891, New South Wales. Supreme Court, The New South Wales Law Reports, volume 12, page 238
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.
    Once the last line of cable has been retrieved, there is little evidence that a shoot has been conducted. 1980, The Williston Basin, 1980, page 159

Etymology 2

Minced oath for shit.

intj

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…