Middle English sheten "hasten from place to place; move swiftly; thrust forward; discharge a missile, send an arrow from a bow," from Old English sceotan (class II strong verb; past tense sceat, past participle scoten), "dart forth, go swiftly and suddenly," also "discharge (a missile or weapon);" also, of a person, "go suddenly from place to place;" also transitive "send out or forth with sudden or violent motion; put forth or extend in any direction; strike with anything shot."

This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *skeutanan (source also of Old Saxon skiotan, Old Norse skjota "to shoot with (a weapon); shoot, launch, push, shove quickly," Old Frisian skiata, Middle Dutch skieten, Dutch schieten, Old High German skiozan, German schießen), often said to be from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw," but Boutkan gives it no IE etymology.

The sense of "dart along" (as pain through the nerves or a meteor in the sky) is by late 13c.; that of "come forth" (as a plant) is by late 15c. As "increase rapidly, grow quickly" by 1530s (often with up (adv.)). By 1690s as "be emitted in rays or flashes" (as light is); by 1530s in weaving, "variegate by interspersing colors."

The general sports sense of "kick, hit, throw etc. toward the goal" is by 1874. In reference to pool playing, by 1926. The meaning "strive (for)" is by 1967, American English. The sense of "descend (a river) quickly" is from 1610s. The slang meaning "to inject by means of a hypodermic needle" is attested by 1914 among addicts. The meaning "to photograph" (especially a movie) is from 1890.

As an interjection, an arbitrary euphemistic alteration of shit, it is recorded by 1934.

Shoot the breeze "chat" is attested by 1938 (as shooting the breeze), perhaps originally U.S. military slang. Shoot to kill is attested from 1867. Slang shoot the cat "vomit" is from 1785.

To shoot the moon in British slang formerly meant "depart by night with ones goods to escape back rent" (c. 1823).

O, 'tis cash makes such crowds to the gin shops roam,

And 'tis cash often causes a rumpus at home ;

'Tis when short of cash people oft shoot the moon ;

And 'tis cash always keeps our pipes in tune.

Cash! cash! &c.

["The Melodist and Mirthful Olio, An Elegant Collection of the Most Popular Songs," vol. IV, London, 1829]

Shoot against the moon was used by Massinger (1634) as a figure of an impossible attempt. The card-playing sense of shoot the moon perhaps was influenced by gambler's shoot the works (1922) "go for broke" in shooting dice.

early 15c., "very lively, frivolous," perhaps from a Scandinavian word related to Old Norse skjota "to shoot, launch, move quickly," from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." Compare Northern dialect skite "to move by leaps and bounds" (see skit).

The sense of "shy, easily frightened, nervous, apt to run" is by c. 1500, of horses. The meaning "changeable, fickle, inconstant" is from c. 1600; that of "inclined to be coy or reserved" is from 1640s. Related: Skittishly; skittishness.

form of trap-shooting involving varying angles, 1926, a name chosen from public submissions to National Sportsman as "a very old form of our present word 'shoot.' " Perhaps the word intended was something akin to dialectal skite (n.) "a sudden stroke, or blow," ultimately from Old Norse skjota "to shoot" (compare skit, and see shoot (v.)).

In a list of "Some Peculiarities of Speech in Mississippi," [H.A. Shands, 1893] is an entry for skeet: "Illiterate whites use this word to mean to move swiftly to flee to run and also to skate and from this last it is probably derived."

The game of "Skeet" was developed by a group of enthusiastic trap-shooters who were dissatisfied with the target methods employed at various trap-shooting clubs and who desired to work out a system that would reproduce more closely actual field shooting conditions. How well they have succeeded is evidenced by the popularity that has already been accorded the new game. [Forest and Stream, October 1926]

"contemptible person," 1790, Scottish and Northern, earlier "a sudden slap, stroke, or blow" (1785), perhaps from Old Norse skyt-, from skjota "to shoot" (compare skit, and see shoot (v.)).

Also perhaps from or influenced by dialectal skit (n.), Middle English skite "dysentery, diarrhea" (mid-14c., c. 1200 in surnames), from Old Norse skitr "to shit."

"to run rapidly," 1845, frequentative of skite "to dart, run quickly" (1721), perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse skjota "to shoot, launch, move quickly, avoid" a blow; Norwegian dialectal skutla "glide rapidly"); see skittish and compare skit. Related: Skittered; skittering. As a noun from 1905.