Word.ws English Dictionary

shoot blanks

shoot blanks verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shoot, blanks.

Verb

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

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shoot, blanks.
  2. (colloquial) To be sterile.

Forms of shoot blanks

third-person singular presentshoots blanks
present participleshooting blanks
past participleshot blanks
pastshot blanks

Origin of shoot blanks

Likening the ejaculation of semen to bullets from a gun, as in ejaculating but no semen comes out; see blank (“cartridge that simulates gunfire”).

Questions about shoot blanks

What does shoot blanks mean?
Shoot blanks means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see shoot, blanks.
What part of speech is shoot blanks?
Shoot blanks is a verb.
What is the past tense of shoot blanks?
The past tense of shoot blanks is shot blanks.

Words near shoot blanks in the dictionary

  1. shoot a rope
  2. shoot an elephant with a BB gun
  3. shoot and protect
  4. shoot around
  5. shoot back
  6. shoot blanks
  7. shoot bug
  8. shoot bugs
  9. shoot daggers
  10. shoot down
  11. shoot first and ask questions later

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shoot blanks (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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