a gunfight that must end in defeat for one side or the other, as between gunfighters in the Old West, criminal groups, or law-enforcement officers and criminals.
2.
Slang. any military conflict or skirmish.
3.
Slang. a high-scoring or intensely played game or tournament, as of basketball or ice hockey.
4.
Soccer. a method of breaking a tie score at the end of overtime in which five players from each team alternate shooting at the opponent's goal, starting from a spot 35 yards (39 meters) from the goal line, in an attempt to kick the ball past the rival goalkeeper in under five seconds.
Origin
1945-50; noun use of verb phrase shoot (it) out to settle a dispute with firearms
Examples from the web for shootout
More likely than a bomb or a shootout is a plain old fire, in which case you will want to make a hasty exit.
Shortly after arriving at his home, police arrived in the courtyard and a shootout began.
Teams began with the basketball knockout followed by a hockey shootout, disc golf, a soccer shootout and a marshmallow golf drive.
The suspect was killed in a shootout with other officers several hours later.
The film's final shootout, though grisly, also manages to have its share of bizarre humor and even beauty.
Later in the shootout, he lost control of the puck as he skated in and wasn't able to get a shot off.