take a shot

idiom

1

: to fire a gun

He took a shot and missed.

—often + at

He took a shot at the deer.

2

: to try to hit

—+ at

She took a shot at me with a snowball but missed.

3

: to propel a ball or puck toward a goal

He took a shot and scored.

4

: to make a critical or hurtful remark about someone

—+ at

They took shots at each other throughout the debate.

5

: to attempt to do something successfully

—often + at

Take a shot at the math problem.

I never changed a tire before, but I'll take a shot at it.

6

informal : to photograph something

—often + of

Be sure to take a shot of the house.

Examples of take a shot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gordy, a titan of Black music, saw the appeal of the genre and leveraged his powerful label to take a shot at Nashville — only to come up with an empty beer glass. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 8 Dec. 2024

Here are some games to watch this weekend: Berlin (6-2) at Windsor (8-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Berlin is the latest to take a shot at the No. 1 team in the state in this CCC Tier II game. —Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, 14 Nov. 2024

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. said the would-be shooter didn't have a clear line of sight in order to take a shot at Trump and never fired any rounds. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2024

Rowe, who visited the golf course after flying down from Washington Monday, said the would-be shooter didn't have a clear line of sight to take a shot at Trump and never fired any rounds. —Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2024