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Glite Dictionary
drive-by shooting

drive-by shooting

19 5.9
A gun attack from a moving car that hits people outside
  • noun
  • /ˈdraɪvˌbaɪ ˈʃutɪŋ/
  • NSFW
translation icon : tiroteo desde un coche
  • The police are investigating a drive-by shooting that occurred near the park last night.
  • drive-by shooting that killed
  • murdered in a drive-by shooting
  • drive-by shooting victim

We moved moved near near there and they get a call and one of the the ladies nephews was killed in a drive by shooting or something in Houston.

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Examples

  • You were the target of a drive-by shooting by a street gang.

    Rising Sun (1993)

  • There was another drive-by shooting today downtown.

    Torture Chamber (2013)

  • - She was at the drive-by shooting.

    Falling Down (1993)

  • Apparently there was a drive-by shooting...

    Volcano (1997)

  • There was a drive-by shooting by his house, and he got shot by accident and he died.

    Music of the Heart (1999)

  • There was a drive-by shooting by his house, and he got shot by accident and died.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • There was another drive-by shooting today downtown...

    The Night Crew (2015)

  • Drive-by shootings were a problem in Denver.

    Bare Witness (2002)

  • Bug Wendal was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton.

    Gridiron Gang (2006)

  • Citty says part of the increase can be attributed to a rise in gang violence, including drive-by shootings.

    Blog text (4)

Synonyms

shooting
vsdrive-by shooting
492 3.3

An incident when someone is hurt or killed by gunfire

is limited to attacks fired from a moving vehicle as it passes the victim

Surface Forms

drive-by shooting singular
drive-by shootings plural

Morphology

drive-by + shooting

The compound is compositionally built from 'drive' (operate a vehicle) + 'by' (past/passing) modifying 'shooting' (gunfire), so the overall meaning 'a shooting from a passing/moving vehicle' is directly inferable from the parts. This follows a regular English modifier+noun pattern and is likely decodable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words, despite 'drive-by' being idiomatic in register.

Etymology

Drive-by shooting comes from the clear picture of a car driving past while someone fires a gun, with drive-by meaning driving past and shooting meaning firing. So today it means 'to shoot from a moving vehicle'.