Schüssen

Schüssen is the dative plural form of the German masculine noun Schuss, meaning shots or discharges. In everyday German, the nominative plural is Schüsse, while Schüssen appears when the noun is in the dative case, typically after a preposition such as bei, mit, or nach. For example, in a sentence like Bei den Schüssen wurden mehrere Personen verletzt, Schüssen refers to the plural “shots” or “firing,” and appears as the object of the preposition.

Meanings of Schuss include several related senses. The most common is a discharge from a firearm or other weapon, as in a report about gunfire. It can also denote a single attempt or try, as in idioms that describe taking a shot at something. In a different sense, Schuss can refer to an amount of liquid, most often a small measure of liquor, though this sense is typically expressed with Schüsse in the plural when counting multiple servings. In sports and photography, the term Schuss or connected phrases are used to describe a strike toward a goal or a shot captured on film, respectively.

Origins and usage notes: Schuss derives from older German forms for “shoot” or “firing.” The related verb is schießen, which means to shoot, and the noun Schuss forms the basis for related expressions across contexts such as military history, journalism, and everyday language.

See also: Schuss, Schießen, Schüsse, German grammar.