Tulistada

Tulistada is an Estonian verb meaning to shoot, specifically to discharge a firearm. It is used to describe the act of firing a weapon, whether in combat, policing, crime reporting, or historical contexts. The word can appear in literal reports of gunfire and, less commonly, in figurative constructions where shooting is used as a metaphor for rapid or targeted action.

Etymology and form: The verb is built from the Estonian root related to fire (tuli) and is part of the standard class of -da/-ta verbs. It denotes the intentional discharge of a weapon toward a target. The finite forms follow regular Estonian patterns: present tense forms such as ta tulistab (he shoots); past forms such as ta tulistas (he shot) or ta tulistanud (having shot). The verb participates in compound tenses through standard auxiliary constructions.

Usage notes: In journalistic and legal language, tulistada appears with explicit targets (tulistama kedagi – to shoot someone) and with references to the weapon or event (tulistamine, a shooting). The instrument is often specified (relv: gun; püss: rifle; püstol: pistol), and the action generally takes precedence in the sentence structure.

See also: relv (weapon), lask (shot), tulistamine (shooting), püss (rifle), püstol (pistol).