Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To shoot and kill or seriously wound someone, typically in a deliberate and ruthless manner: The phrase "gun down" specifically describes the act of using a firearm to cause a person to fall, often fatally. It implies a sudden, violent attack from a distance.
   • To bring down by gunfire: It can also be used more broadly for shooting something out of the air or from a position.

Usage

• The verb is used with a direct object (the person or thing that is shot).
• It often carries connotations of cold-bloodedness, execution, or an unfair advantage (e.g., shooting an unarmed person).
• Commonly found in news reports, crime narratives, and dramatic descriptions.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The gangsters gunned down the rival in a drive-by shooting.
  • Witnesses reported seeing a masked man gun down the security guard.
  • The anti-aircraft battery gunned down three enemy planes.

Advanced Usage

• Passive Voice: Frequently used to emphasize the victim or the act itself.
  • The activist was gunned down outside her home.
• Figurative Use: While the core meaning is literal, it can be used metaphorically to describe a harsh verbal attack or a decisive defeat in a non-physical context, though this is less common.
  • The CEO gunned down every proposal during the meeting. (Metaphorical)

Variants and Related Words

• Shoot down (verb): A close synonym, often used interchangeably with "gun down," though "shoot down" can also apply to objects like aircraft or ideas.
• Gun (verb): As a verb on its own, it can mean to shoot, but "gun down" is more specific and intense.
• Gunning (noun): The act of shooting with a gun.

Synonyms

• Shoot down: To cause to fall by shooting.
• Execute: To put to death, especially in a planned manner.
• Mow down: To kill indiscriminately or in large numbers (can involve guns or other means).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Gun for (someone): To be determined to harm or defeat someone; to seek out with hostile intent.
  • He's been gunning for that promotion all year.
• This is distinct from "gun down," which describes the completed act of shooting.

Related Idioms

• In the crosshairs: To be the target of an attack or criticism (from the crosshairs of a gun's sight).
  • After the scandal, the minister was in the crosshairs.
• Shot down in cold blood: Killed ruthlessly and without emotion. This idiom is very close in meaning to "gunned down."
  • The informant was shot down in cold blood.

Verb

1. strike down or shoot down