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PlainSpell

shoot

/ʃut/verb, noun, interjection

shoot is spelled S-H-O-O-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 54 times per million words in written English, the 1,899th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “chute vs shoot” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, shoot means “To fire (a weapon that releases a bullet or other projectile)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in shoot?

Letters5: S-H-O-O-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing54 times per million words; the 1,899th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is shoot?

Shoot appears 54 times per million words in written English, the 1,899th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce shoot?

  • UK /ʃuːt/
  • British /ʃʉwt/
  • US /ʃut/

Shoot has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-shoot.wav, En-us-shoot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with shoot

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

chute vs shoot70 G
shoot vs shute0 B

Sounds like: chute (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: shute.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with shoot?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shoot from its last stressed vowel (/ut/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: sooth, shoto.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of shoot

  • shoots present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • shooting participle, present
  • shot past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • shotten participle, past, rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does shoot mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To fire (a weapon that releases a bullet or other projectile).

    to shoot a gun

  2. 2

    To fire or launch (a projectile).

  3. 3

    To fire a projectile at (a person or target).

    The man, in a desperate bid for freedom, grabbed his gun and started shooting anyone he could.

  4. 4

    To cause a weapon to discharge a projectile; to use a gun or similar weapon.

    They shot at a target.

  5. 5

    To hunt game with a gun; to go hunting for recreation.

    They're coming to shoot with us on Sunday.

  6. 6

    To hunt on (a piece of land) with a gun; to kill game in or on.

    Although the estate had been shot previously, there had been no effective keepering and little success with the pheasants released.

  7. 7

    To function as a weapon that launches a projectile.

    The gun shoots well.

  8. 8

    To throw dice; to roll.

noun

  1. 1

    The emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new plant.

  2. 2

    A photography session.

  3. 3

    A hunt or shooting competition.

  4. 4

    slangAn event that is unscripted or legitimate.

  5. 5

    The act of shooting; the discharge of a missile; a shot.

  6. 6

    A rush of water; a rapid.

  7. 7

    A weft thread shot through the shed by the shuttle; a pick.

  8. 8

    A shoat; a young pig.

interjection

  1. 1

    A mild expletive, expressing disbelief or dismay

    Didn't you have a concert tonight? –Shoot! I forgot! I have to go and get ready…

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Shoot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtirer (to fire a shot), pousse (emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new…), prise de photos, séance photo (photography session), mercredi, mince (expressing disbelief)
Germanschießen (to fire a shot), Ableger (emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new…), Scheibe (expressing disbelief), anschießen, erschießen (to hit with a shot)
Portugueseatirar, disparar (to fire a shot), rebento, broto (emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new…), balear (to hit with a shot), fotografar (take a picture)
Spanishdisparar, tirar, chejear (to fire a shot), retoño, vástago, pimpollo (emerging stem and embryonic leaves of a new…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does shoot come from?

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, thematic present of *(s)kewd- (“to shoot, throw”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after shoot