Skip to main content
shootout

shootout

79 5.6
A violent fight in which people fire guns at each other
  • noun
  • /ˈʃuːtaʊt/
  • NSFW
translation icon : intercambio de disparos
  • At times, he confronted bands of his rivals and engaged in wild-west type shootouts.

It was in the town of Argyll and they got in a shootout with locals in the town.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • We are live here in downtown, where last night police are saying a massive shootout took place between local law enforcement and drug traffickers.

  • After the shootout at the club, I figured I needed more firepower.

  • Well, I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the shootout that occurred earlier today.

  • I am here because my partner was killed four years ago, in a shootout.

  • 3 men were reported killed today after a shootout with the FBI in a quiet neighborhood in Brooklyn.

  • My niece was almost killed in a shootout in Miami.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Tensions have, on occasion, led to deadly shootouts among the groups.

    Academic text (1993)
  • At the close of the shootout, Lenahan's daughters were found dead in the truck from gunshot wounds.

    Academic text (2017)
  • During the shootout, Mrs. Phoebe DeWolfe, aged 33, watching from a window across the street gave premature birth to a five-and-a-half-pound baby boy.

  • A public utilities worker for the city is now dead after a shootout with police.

Synonyms

firefight
vsshootout
56 6.5

A short battle where armed people shoot at each other

includes fights between any people or groups rather than only organized armed units
gunfight
vsshootout
35 3.2

A short fight where people shoot at each other with guns

is similar but not necessarily brief in duration

Antonyms

negotiation
  • Formal
859 3.5

A discussion to reach an agreement, often in business or politics

646 1.0

A time when countries or groups do not fight

How Violent

mass murder
  • NSFW
38 6.7
firefight
56 6.5
gunfight
35 3.2
shootout
  • NSFW
79 5.6
shooting
492 3.3

Surface Forms

shootout singular
shootouts plural

Morphology

shootout = shoot + out (transparent) = shoot + out

The noun is a straightforward compound of the verb 'shoot' and the particle 'out', meaning an instance of shooting or a gunfight; the meaning is predictable for learners who know the components.

Etymology

Shootout joins shoot ('to fire a gun') and out, making a short name for an event when people shoot at each other. So, a shootout is a violent fight where guns are fired.