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shoot

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "shoot", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "shoot" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "shoot" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

shoot is aEnglishverb. It means: To launch (forcefully project) a projectile. Pronounced /ʃuːt/. It ranks #1,917 in English word frequency. Often confused with sot and show.

Key facts for shoot
PropertyValue
Headwordshoot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ʃuːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,917
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of shoot in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for shoot is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃuːt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,917 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 40 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for shoot, with forms such as "hsoot", "shhoot", and "shoott". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sot", "show", "soon", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English scheten, schoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sjitte… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is shoot, spelled S-H-O-O-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  2. 2
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  3. 3
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  4. 4
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  5. 5
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  6. 6
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  7. 7
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  8. 8
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  9. 9
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  10. 10
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  11. 11
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  12. 12
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  13. 13
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  14. 14
    To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
  15. 15
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  16. 16
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  17. 17
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  18. 18
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  19. 19
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  20. 20
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  21. 21
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  22. 22
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  23. 23
    To move or act quickly or suddenly.
  24. 24
    To act or achieve.
  25. 25
    To act or achieve.
  26. 26
    To act or achieve.
  27. 27
    To measure the distance and direction to (a point).
  28. 28
    To inject a drug (such as heroin) intravenously.
  29. 29
    To develop, move forward.
  30. 30
    To develop, move forward.
  31. 31
    To develop, move forward.
  32. 32
    To develop, move forward.
  33. 33
    To develop, move forward.
  34. 34
    To protrude; to jut; to project; to extend.
  35. 35
    To plane straight; to fit by planing.
  36. 36
    To variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches. (See shot silk on Wikipedia)
  37. 37
    To shoot the moon.
  38. 38
    To carry out, or attempt to carry out (an approach to an airport runway).
  39. 39
    To carry out a seismic survey with geophones in an attempt to detect oil.
  40. 40
    To drink (a shot of an alcoholic beverage).

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English scheten, schoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sjitte, Low German scheten, Dutch schieten, German schießen, Danish skyde, Norwegian Bokmål skyte, Norwegian Nynorsk skyta, Swedish skjuta; and also, through Indo-European, with Russian кида́ть (kidátʹ), Albanian hedh (“to throw, toss”), Persian چست (čost, “quick, active”), Lithuanian skudrùs.

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hsoot,shhoot,shoott,shoto,sohot,sshoot

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for shoot

Misspelling Variants of "shoot"

hsoot5shhoot6shoott6shoto5sohot5sshoot6
Misspelling Variants of "shoot"

Frequency rank: #1,917 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shoot"?
"shoot" is spelled S-H-O-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃuːt/.
What does "shoot" mean?
As a verb, "shoot" means: To launch (forcefully project) a projectile.
What words are commonly confused with "shoot"?
"shoot" is commonly confused with "sot", "show", "soon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shoot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shoot" is /ʃuːt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "shoot"?
Inherited from Middle English scheten, schoten, from Old English scēotan, from Proto-West Germanic *skeutan, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti, from *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”). Cognates Cognate with West Fris... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.