n. [ F. chute. See Chute. Confused with shoot to let fly. ] An inclined plane, either artificial or natural, down which timber, coal, etc., are caused to slide; also, a narrow passage, either natural or artificial, in a stream, where the water rushes rapidly; esp., a channel, having a swift current, connecting the ends of a bend in the stream, so as to shorten the course. [ Written also chute, and shute. ] [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To take a shoot, to pass through a shoot instead of the main channel; to take the most direct course. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Shot p. pr. & vb. n. Shooting. The old participle Shotten is obsolete. See Shotten. ] [ OE. shotien, schotien, AS. scotian, v. i., sceótan; akin to D. schieten, G. schie&unr_;en, OHG. sciozan, Icel. skj&unr_;ta, Sw. skjuta, Dan. skyde; cf. Skr. skund to jump. √159. Cf. Scot a contribution, Scout to reject, Scud, Scuttle, v. i., Shot, Sheet, Shut, Shuttle, Skittish, Skittles. ] 1. To let fly, or cause to be driven, with force, as an arrow or a bullet; -- followed by a word denoting the missile, as an object. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you please
To shoot an arrow that self way. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To discharge, causing a missile to be driven forth; -- followed by a word denoting the weapon or instrument, as an object; -- often with off; as, to shoot a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

The two ends od a bow, shot off, fly from one another. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To strike with anything shot; to hit with a missile; often, to kill or wound with a firearm; -- followed by a word denoting the person or thing hit, as an object. [ 1913 Webster ]

When Roger shot the hawk hovering over his master's dove house. A. Tucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To send out or forth, especially with a rapid or sudden motion; to cast with the hand; to hurl; to discharge; to emit. [ 1913 Webster ]

An honest weaver as ever shot shuttle. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

A pit into which the dead carts had nightly shot corpses by scores. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To push or thrust forward; to project; to protrude; -- often with out; as, a plant shoots out a bud. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shoot out the lip, they shake the head. Ps. xxii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beware the secret snake that shoots a sting. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Carp.) To plane straight; to fit by planing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Two pieces of wood that are shot, that is, planed or else pared with a paring chisel. Moxon. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To pass rapidly through, over, or under; as, to shoot a rapid or a bridge; to shoot a sand bar. [ 1913 Webster ]

She . . . shoots the Stygian sound. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To variegate as if by sprinkling or intermingling; to color in spots or patches. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tangled water courses slept,
Shot over with purple, and green, and yellow. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be shot of, to be discharged, cleared, or rid of. [ Colloq. ] “Are you not glad to be shot of him?” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of shooting; the discharge of a missile; a shot; as, the shoot of a shuttle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Turkish bow giveth a very forcible shoot. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

One underneath his horse to get a shoot doth stalk. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A young branch or growth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Superfluous branches and shoots of this second spring. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A rush of water; a rapid. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Min.) A vein of ore running in the same general direction as the lode. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Weaving) A weft thread shot through the shed by the shuttle; a pick. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. [ Perh. a different word. ] A shoat; a young hog. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To cause an engine or weapon to discharge a missile; -- said of a person or an agent; as, they shot at a target; he shoots better than he rides. [ 1913 Webster ]

The archers have . . . shot at him. Gen. xlix. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To discharge a missile; -- said of an engine or instrument; as, the gun shoots well. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be shot or propelled forcibly; -- said of a missile; to be emitted or driven; to move or extend swiftly, as if propelled; as, a shooting star. [ 1913 Webster ]

There shot a streaming lamp along the sky. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To penetrate, as a missile; to dart with a piercing sensation; as, shooting pains. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy words shoot through my heart. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To feel a quick, darting pain; to throb in pain. [ 1913 Webster ]

These preachers make
His head to shoot and ache. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To germinate; to bud; to sprout. [ 1913 Webster ]

Onions, as they hang, will shoot forth. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

But the wild olive shoots, and shades the ungrateful plain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To grow; to advance; as, to shoot up rapidly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Well shot in years he seemed. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Delightful task! to rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to shoot. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To change form suddenly; especially, to solidify. [ 1913 Webster ]

If the menstruum be overcharged, metals will shoot into crystals. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To protrude; to jut; to project; to extend; as, the land shoots into a promontory. [ 1913 Webster ]

There shot up against the dark sky, tall, gaunt, straggling houses. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Naut.) To move ahead by force of momentum, as a sailing vessel when the helm is put hard alee. [ 1913 Webster ]

To shoot ahead, to pass or move quickly forward; to outstrip others. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who shoots, as an archer or a gunner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which shoots. Specifically: (a) A firearm; as, a five-shooter. [ Colloq. U.S. ] (b) A shooting star. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of one who, or that which, shoots; as, the shooting of an archery club; the shooting of rays of light. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wounding or killing with a firearm; specifically (Sporting), the killing of game; as, a week of shooting. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sensation of darting pain; as, a shooting in one's head. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to shooting; for shooting; darting. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shooting board (Joinery), a fixture used in planing or shooting the edge of a board, by means of which the plane is guided and the board held true. --
Shooting box, a small house in the country for use in the shooting season. Prof. Wilson. --
Shooting gallery, a range, usually covered, with targets for practice with firearms. --
Shooting iron, a firearm. [ Slang, U.S. ] --
Shooting star. (a) (Astron.) A starlike, luminous meteor, that, appearing suddenly, darts quickly across some portion of the sky, and then as suddenly disappears, leaving sometimes, for a few seconds, a luminous train, -- called also falling star. Shooting stars are small cosmical bodies which encounter the earth in its annual revolution, and which become visible by coming with planetary velocity into the upper regions of the atmosphere. At certain periods, as on the 13th of November and 10th of August, they appear for a few hours in great numbers, apparently diverging from some point in the heavens, such displays being known as meteoric showers, or star showers. These bodies, before encountering the earth, were moving in orbits closely allied to the orbits of comets. See Leonids, Perseids. (b) (Bot.) The American cowslip (Dodecatheon Meadia). See under Cowslip. --
Shooting stick (Print.), a tapering piece of wood or iron, used by printers to drive up the quoins in the chase. Hansard. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Sprouting or coming up freely and regularly. [ Prev. Eng. ] Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]