Shoot | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Shōōt, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SHOT; p. pr. & vb. n. SHOOTING. The old participle SHOTTEN is obsolete.] [A-S. sceótan, scotian, Icel. skjóta, Sw. skjuta, Dan. skyde, D. schieten, L. Ger. scheten, O. H. Ger. sciozan, M. H. Ger. schiezen, N. H. Ger. schiezen; Skr. tsjud, to send.]

Sense 1. To let fly or cause to be driven with force, as an arrow or bullet;—followed by a word denoting the missile, as an object.

If you please To shoot an arrow that self way. Shak.

Sense 2. To discharge, causing a missile to be driven forth;—said of the weapon or instrument, as an object; as, to shoot a gun, and the like.

The two ends of a bow, shot off, fly from one another. Boyle.

Sense 3. To strike with any thing shot; to hit with a missile;—said of the person or thing hit, as an object. “When Roger shot the hawk hovering over his master’s dove-house.” Tucker.

Sense 4. To send out or forth, especially with a rapid or sudden motion; to discharge; to emit; to hurl. “A pit into which the dead-carts had nightly shot corpses by scores.” Macaulay.

Sense 5. To push or thrust forward; to project; to propel; as, a plant shoots out a bud. “An honest weaver as ever shot shuttle.” B. Jonson.

Beware the secret snake that shoots a sting. Dryden.

Sense 6. To plane straight, or fit by planing;—a workman’s term. “Two pieces of wood that are shot, that is, planed or pared with a chisel.” Moxon.

Sense 7. To pass rapidly through or under; as, to shoot a rapid or a bridge. “She . . . shoots the Stygian sound.” Dryden.

Sense 8. To variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches.

The tangled water-courses slept, Shot over with purple, and green, and yellow. Tennyson.

To be shot of, to be made free of; to get released from. [Colloq.] “Are you not glad to be shot of him?” W. Scott.

Shoot, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To perform the act of discharging, sending with force, or driving any thing by means of an engine or instrument;—said of the agent shooting; as, to shoot at a target or mark. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him. Gen. xlix. 23. 2. To be shot or propelled forcibly;—said of the missile shot; to be emitted, sent forth, or driven along; to move with velocity; as, a shooting-star. There shot a streaming lamp along the sky. Dryden. 3. To be felt, as if darting through one; as, shooting pains. Thy words shoot through my heart. Addison. 4. To feel a quick, darting pain. These preachers make His head to shoot and ache. Herbert. 5. To germinate; to bud; to sprout. Onions, as they hang, will shoot forth. Bacon. But the wild olive shoots, and shades the ungrateful plain. Dryden. 6. Hence, to make progress; to grow; to advance; as, to shoot up rapidly. Well shot in years he seemed. Spencer. Delightful task to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea how to shoot. Thomson. 7. To dart forth; to form by shooting. If the menstruum be overcharged, metals will shoot into crystals. Bacon.

Hence, to spread over; to overspread.
To protuberate; to be pushed out; to jut; to project; as, the land shoots into a promontory.

To shoot ahead of, to outstrip in running, flying, or sailing.

Sho͞ot, n.

noun

n. 1. The act of propelling or driving any thing with violence; the discharge of a fire-arm or bowl; as, a good shoot.

The Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot. Bacon.

Sense 2. The act of striking, or endeavoring to strike, with a missive weapon. Shak.

Sense 3. A young branch.

Prune off superfluous branches and shoots of this second spring. Evelyn.

Sense 4. [Cf. SHOAT and SHOTE.] A young swine which is shooting, or growing up; a shoat.

Sense 5. [Fr. chute. See CHUTE.] An inclined plane, either artificial or natural, down which timber, coal, &c., are caused to slide; also, a narrow passage, either natural or artificial, in a river, where the water rushes rapidly; especially, a channel, often shallow, but having a swift current, connecting the ends of a bend in the river, so as to shorten the course. [Written also chute and shute.] [U. S.] Bartlett.

Sense 6. (Min.) A vein running in the same direction as the strata in which it occurs.

To take a shoot, to pass through a shoot instead of going by the main channel; hence, to take the most direct course or means; to move or act with swiftness and directness. [U. S.]