Dictionary

shoot the moon en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (broadly, figuratively) To attain great heights, a high value, or a numerically high measurement.
   • Already orbiting at altitudes unimaginable a few short years ago, interest rates moved even higher last week and threatened to shoot the moon. 1981 May 18, John DeMott, “Sky-High Interest Rates”, in Time:
2. To achieve the lowest or highest score possible, such that the player is usually rewarded with bonus points.
   • In our last hand of pinochle, Leon and Janet shot the moon, taking all 50 tricks.
   • When Randy took the queen of spades on the last trick in our game of hearts, he shot the moon.
3. (slang) To abscond without paying one's rent.
   • So that is how the old rascal shot the moon. He is off on blue water by this time with his whole outfit, and will come back with a fortune. The landlord won't grumble, because Schoolbred must pay his rent, […] 1908, Bram Stoker, A Moon-Light Effect:
   • Perhaps it was Powlett's memory of Boswell's charm that caused him, when he shot the moon and moved to France to escape creditors, to take with him his father-in-law's papers. 1950, Christopher Morley, Boswell's London Journal 1762-1763 (Preface):
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shoot, moon.
   • The Army, making its first attempt to shoot the moon, had spent weeks fussing over the Juno II, a 60-ton Jupiter IRBM with a spike of high-speed rockets. 1958 December 15, “Juno's Gold Cone”, in Time:

Forms

Hypernyms

steal · cheat · defraud

Relateds

over the moon · onwards and upwards · the sky is the limit · moon shot · grand slam · play to win · shoot for the stars

Translations (19)

tr kafa atmak (achieve the lowest or highest score possible) · pl wystrzeliwać w stronę Księżyca (hit the moon) · pl zwiewać bez płacenia (abscond without paying one's rent) · cmn 衝高 /冲高 (attain great heights) · pl zwiać bez płacenia (abscond without paying one's rent) · pl wystrzeliwać w kosmos (attain great heights) · cmn 飆升 /飙升 (attain great heights) · fi livahtaa vuokraa maksamatta (abscond without paying one's rent) · fi tavoitella kuuta taivaalta (attain great heights) · de durch die Decke gehen (attain great heights) · no storeslem (achieve the lowest or highest score possible) · fi puhaltaa (achieve the lowest or highest score possible) · fi laukaista kuuhun (hit the moon) · pl wystrzelić w kosmos (attain great heights) · cmn 捲逃欠租 /卷逃欠租 (abscond without paying one's rent) · pl wystrzelić w stronę Księżyca (hit the moon) · cmn 滿貫 /满贯 (achieve the lowest or highest score possible) · pl ugrać wielkiego szlema (achieve the lowest or highest score possible) · cmn 撞擊月球 /撞击月球 (hit the moon)