shoot off

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Verb

shoot off (third-person singular simple present shoots off, present participle shooting off, simple past and past participle shot off)

  1. (colloquial) To leave quickly
    I have to shoot off, my interview starts in under an hour.
  2. (idiomatic) To do (something, usually a written or verbal communication) quickly, and without hesitation or forethought.
    • 2020 December 21, Bryan Lufkin, “How 'linguistic mirroring' can make you more convincing”, in BBC‎[1]:
      In other situations, you might know someone who adds colour with personal anecdotes and feelings. You could shoot off a similar response – perhaps including a short story of your own to hammer home your point.
  3. (television) To overshoot the bounds of a set when filming, showing part of what lies outside it.
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shoot,‎ off.
    His arm got shot off in the war.
    • 2025 July 23, Paul Clifton, “Air force: drones' developing railway role”, in RAIL, number 1040, page 29:
      "But the Civil Aviation Authority is very worried about 'flyaway' - if someone has bought a GPS jammer on eBay because they don't want drones near their house, it can cause drones to get completely lost and shoot off in a random direction until they run out of battery.

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