shootdown
Americannoun
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the attack and destruction of an aircraft in flight.
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the shooting and killing of someone in cold blood.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A Kuwaiti jet fighter was the cause of the accidental shootdown of three American F-15s on Sunday, according to people familiar with initial reports of the incident.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
The Turkish attacks and the drone shootdown are the latest source of strain in the U.S.-Turkey relationship over Kurdish groups in the region.
From Washington Times • Oct. 5, 2023
Blinken visited Beijing over the summer after canceling a planned trip there in February following the shootdown of a Chinese surveillance balloon over U.S. territory.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 18, 2023
One of the officials said the exact number of increased troops was unclear, but the move was unrelated to recent tensions over the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon which flew across the United States.
From Reuters • Feb. 24, 2023
Others have praised the US' handling of the incident, with Australia's deputy PM Richard Marles calling the shootdown of the Chinese balloon "a very measured way" of responding to the incursion.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
