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shot

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈʃɑt// UK //ʃˈɒt// shot Archaic General-service Informal Slang

n. an attempt to do something, or a single act of firing a gun or hitting a ball. It can also mean a photograph or a small injection of medicine.

n. an act of firing a weapon, hitting a ball in sports, or attempting a task. Also refers to a single photographic image or a hypodermic injection of a vaccine or drug.


SIMPLE

He took a shot at the goal but missed.

CONTEXTUAL

The doctor gave me a flu shot in my left arm before I left the clinic.

COMPLEX

The director insisted on a wide shot to capture the scale of the landscape, even though the lead actor felt a close-up would better convey the character's internal struggle.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

The past participle of shoot.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English schot, from Old English sceot, from Proto-Germanic *skutą; compare the doublet scot.

Etymology 3

See scot (“a share”).

Usage

Commonly used in the idiomatic phrase 'give it a shot' to mean trying something new.

Pitfall

I had a shot of fluI had a flu shotWhen referring to medical injections, the noun 'shot' usually follows the name of the medicine or disease it treats.

Idioms10 entries

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