🔫 To fire a weapon 📷 To take a picture 💨 To move quickly ⚽ To kick or throw 🎯 A shooting event 🌱 A young plant 🌱 To start growing 🎲 To throw dice 🧵 To weave colors 💸 To waste money 🌟 To measure stars

to shoot

1 8.6

To spend money quickly on things you do not need

verb
/ʃut/

Informal

: derrochar

He tends to shoot money on unnecessary gadgets instead of saving.

Examples

Our problem is we are too diverse and shoot ourselves in the collective foot.

Blog text (18)
You're still out of a job, and this little trick has shot your savings all to hell!

Fiction book (2001)
Why buy something for a day and then go home and shoot it?

Fiction book (1996)
Sometimes it feels like you know just enough to shoot yourself in your own foot.

Blog text (2)
You don't have to spend your life shooting up in the trash

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
We can stop educating our kids, which is tantamount to shooting ourselves in the foot.

Academic text (1999)
They decided to shoot a fortune on lavish parties every weekend.
Instead of budgeting wisely, she prefers to shoot her salary on impulse buys.

Synonyms

to blow

vsto shoot

Informal

211 5.3

To waste a lot of money on things you do not need

is tied specifically to spending money frivolously rather than missing opportunities

to squander

vsto shoot

63 6.5

To use money, time, or chances in a foolish way

is less about recklessness and more about lighthearted waste or silliness

to splurge

vsto shoot

Informal

23 7.0

To spend a lot of money to treat yourself

is about frivolous unwise spending rather than deliberate indulgent splurging

to overspend

vsto shoot

15 4.4

To use more money than you can afford or planned to use

is about reckless frivolous spending rather than simply exceeding a budget

to throw money away

vsto shoot

10 3.5

Spend money on things you do not need

covers frivolous unwise spending in general, not only valueless purchases

to fritter

vsto shoot

8 6.8

To waste small amounts of time, money, or energy little by little

is not limited to gradual loss and can mean wider careless spending

to misspend

vsto shoot

7 6.5

To spend time or money in a wasteful way

focuses on frivolous and unwise acts rather than mere poor planning

to fritter away

vsto shoot

7 6.0

Waste time or money on small unimportant things

describes wasteful spending generally rather than only slow, tiny losses

to splash out

vsto shoot

1 7.2

Spend a lot of money on something, usually to celebrate or treat yourself

stresses careless, frivolous waste rather than occasional extravagant treats

to dissipate

vsto shoot

1 7.0

To use money or energy in a foolish, wasteful way

focuses on money spent foolishly, not on broader resource exhaustion

to fool

vsto shoot

1 6.4

To waste money by spending it carelessly

is about wasteful and unwise spending without playful tone

to fool away

vsto shoot

1 8.1

To waste time, money, or chances by being careless

is about spending frivolously rather than general wasting of time or chances

Antonyms

to invest

883 3.5

To put money, time, or effort into something hoping for a future benefit

to save

460 1.0

Use less of something to avoid waste

Idioms

to shoot the messenger

9 7.8

Blame or punish the person who brings bad news instead of fixing the problem

to shoot the breeze

Informal

9 6.8

To chat in a relaxed informal way about unimportant things

to shoot from the hip

Informal

9 8.1

To speak or act quickly without thinking carefully

to shoot yourself in the foot

Informal

4 7.5

Cause trouble for yourself by your actions, often by accident

to shoot for the stars

Informal

2 4.7

Try to reach a very high and difficult goal

to shoot the bull

1 8.1

To chat in a relaxed way about everyday things

to shoot someone's face off

Offensive

1 9.9

To surprise someone very strongly, often in a funny way

to shoot from the lip

Informal

1 8.9

To speak quickly without thinking and risk upsetting people

to shoot first and ask questions later

Informal

1 8.4

Act quickly without thinking or checking facts

to shoot off at the mouth

Informal

1 9.4

Say things quickly without thinking that may hurt people or make you sorry later

to shoot your bolt

Informal

1 8.6

To use up all your energy or chances so none remain

to shoot oneself in the foot

Informal

1 8.4

Do or say something that harms your own chances

to shoot one's bolt

Informal

8.8

To use up all your energy or chances

to shoot one's load

Offensive

9.9

Use all your energy at once and have none left in a rude way

Phrasal Verbs

to shoot down

149 4.4

Fire at a plane or missile so it falls to the ground

to shoot for

Informal

41 3.9

To try to reach a big, difficult goal

to shoot down

Informal

35 3.8

Say no to an idea or plan in a sudden, strong way

to shoot up

25 4.1

Rise quickly to a much higher level

to shoot off

Informal

4 4.1

To send a message quickly without much thought

to shoot craps

2 8.4

Play a dice gambling game to try to win money

to shoot holes in

Informal

1 7.2

To find and point out weak points in an idea, plan or argument

to shoot a question

Informal

1 3.7

To ask a question quickly and directly

to shoot a line

Informal

1 8.3

To send a short message to someone by phone or text

to shoot a line

Australian

9.6

To say proud things to make yourself seem better than you are

to shoot one's mouth off

Informal

8.0

To say things carelessly or proudly without thinking about the result

Compounds

photo shoot

66 3.1

A session when someone takes photos of people or things

shoot 'em up

5 8.1

A fast action game or movie with a lot of shooting

turkey shoot

NSFW

4 8.4

An event or situation where winning is very easy, for example a shooting contest with easy targets

shoot-'em-up

NSFW

3 8.0

A fast action film or game with lots of shooting and fights

point-and-shoot camera

3 3.4

A small light camera with automatic settings for taking simple photos

bamboo shoot

1 2.1

A young stem of bamboo you can eat and use as a vegetable in Asian cooking

How Wasteful

to squander

63 6.5

to blow

Informal

211 5.3

to shoot

Informal

1 8.6

to splash out

1 7.2

to spend

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

shoot infinitive

shooting present participle

shoots third person singular

shot past

shot past participle

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the slang shoot (to spend money fast) is to think of money being 'shot' away quickly, like something 'sent out' from the old English sceotan meaning 'to send quickly'. That's why it means spending money fast.