Shoot
To shoot is to kill or wound using a bullet or arrow. The bullet is usually from a gun but could be from a sling shot (ask Goliath). The arrow is usually from a bow but might also be thrown like a spear. Also, to shoot is to move rapidly, like the car shot off from the start line. A shoot is the first sprout from a seed of mother plant, like the crocus shoots we see before the flower shows itself
“Oh shoot!”, is an expression used when I suddenly remember something important, like I left my wallet at the restaurant. When I say I’ll shoot you an email, it merely means I’ll send you one. When you and I ‘shoot the breeze’ we are just yakking about nothing particularly important. The expression, ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ is to say, ‘don’t blame the messenger for the content of the message.
I can be told to shoot this or that person and do so gladly, with a camera. I can shoot you a look. And hey, maybe if you shoot me a look, it could make my day. A shooting gallery at the fair is where we use a play gun and if we hit the target well, we get a plush toy. Shooting a line is to establish the line to be followed or used as the reference, say, when building a road, or setting a house foundation
A shooter could be the one doing the shooting, or the thing that is used to shoot (like the tube used as a pea shooter or as a blow dart gun), or, that dangerous combination of liquors that we ‘shoot’ back in one swallow. Shooter is a versatile word. The shooter can also be the one designated to shoot in a group that all have the ability to shoot, like in a police stand off where many police face one threat
When I shoot my wad, I spend all my money. This phrase is usually associated with a one time big spend, as in betting it all. That can be to bet all of my money, but it can also be shooting, betting, all of my options, taking a big risk. In life, I’d say I have done that a very few times, only when I felt it too important not to do so. What about you? Have you ever, would you ever, shoot your entire wad?
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