shoot 'em up

shoot 'em up

See also: shoot-'em-up and shoot-em-up

English

Alternative forms

• shoot-em-up, shoot-'em-up, shoot them up

Noun

shoot ’em up (plural shoot 'em ups)

1. (idiomatic, film, television, literature, video games) A short story, novel, television show, film, computer game, or other narrative which depicts considerable gunplay.

   My wife won't watch this movie; it's a shoot ’em up.

   • 1983, Popular Mechanics (volume 160, number 2, August 1983, page 88)

     The arcaders have it easy. All they need to do is drop a quarter into a machine to find out how good the latest shoot 'em up game really is. But for the home computer owner, it's another story.

   • 1989, Duncan Macdonald, R-Type (video game review) in Your Sinclair issue 37, January 1989

     An unmissable shoot 'em up.

Synonyms

• (video game genre): shmup

See also

• beat 'em up