🔫 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 9.9

To measure the height of a star or the sun with a sextant

verb
/ʃut/

Specialized

: tomar la altura con el sextante

She learned how to shoot the angle of the sun at noon using her nautical instruments.

Examples

He would often shoot the altitude of the planets while out at sea using a handheld sextant.
I'll shoot an angle on the sun and soon have it figured out.

Fiction book (1990)
- Match bearings and shoot.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Then, shoot for the faint C ring lying between the B ring and Saturn's disk.

Academic text (2007)
There is, in fact, no compression at all when shooting Cinema DNG with the BMCC.

Blog text (33)
The navigator used a sextant to shoot the position of the North Star during the night.

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 Accurate

to measure

669 1.0

to shoot

Specialized

1 9.9

sight

498 1.0

estimate

405 2.6

guess

601 1.0

Surface Forms

shoot infinitive

shooting present participle

shoots third person singular

shot past

shot past participle

Etymology

Shoot in navigation (to measure a star) comes from the idea of 'aiming' at a point, like 'shooting' at it. So to shoot a star is to take a careful aim to measure its position.