Meaning & use
shooting pain
Last updated
UK/ˌʃuːtɪŋ ˈpeɪn/
US/ˌʃuːtɪŋ ˈpeɪn/
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablemedical
A sudden, sharp pain that seems to travel quickly along a part of the body.
Grammar: Countable or uncountable: a shooting pain, shooting pain in the leg.
Patterns
- a shooting pain in something
- a shooting pain down something
She felt a shooting pain down her leg when she stood up.
A shooting pain in his back made him sit down.
The nurse asked whether the shooting pain came and went.
Word forms
| plural | shooting pains |
|---|
Common combinations
- a shooting pain down the leg
- A shooting pain down the leg can be caused by a nerve problem.
- sudden shooting pain
- A sudden shooting pain made her gasp.
- feel a shooting pain
- He felt a shooting pain in his arm.
- shooting pains in the foot
- She has shooting pains in the foot after running.
- shooting pain when moving
- He gets shooting pain when moving his neck.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stabbing pain
- Stabbing pain feels sharp and localized, while shooting pain seems to spread along a line.
- sharp pain
- Sharp pain is general and need not travel, whereas shooting pain moves.
- searing pain
- Searing pain suggests burning intensity, which is stronger than shooting.
- twinge
- A twinge is a brief, mild sharp feeling, much smaller than a shooting pain.
Opposites
dull achenumbness
Word family
Commonly confused: shooting pain or stabbing pain?
shooting pain vs stabbing pain
A stabbing pain is sharp but stays in one place; a shooting pain runs along the body.
Practice
Anna felt a ____ run down her arm and went to see a doctor.
Choose one answer.
A shooting pain is a sudden sharp pain that travels along a body part. The other options are not pain.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shooting pain”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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