active shooter
active shooter · active shooters
A person actively engaged in a shooting spreeA person actively engaged in a shooting spree.
US/ˌæk.tɪv ˈʃuːtɚ/
» Employees of the bank hid from the active shooter in the vault.
Meaning
2 senses(US)A person actively engaged in a shooting spree.
In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see active, shooter.
Examples
2 sentencesEmployees of the bank hid from the active shooter in the vault.
"I hate it when cops shoot unarmed people." "And yet you expect them to take down active shooters. Curious."
Origin
The sense “individual engaged in a shooting spree” was popularized in the wake of the ColuThe sense “individual engaged in a shooting spree” was popularized in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre (1999).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: active shooters| Singular | active shooter |
|---|---|
| Plural | active shooters |
regular
Word family
1 related wordsRelatedmass shooting