to miss / use up / fade
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to miss
In sports, especially soccer, to fail to score with a shot at the goal. This often refers to an important situation such as a penalty.
Der Stürmer hat den entscheidenden Elfmeter verschossen.
The striker missed the decisive penalty.
to use up by shooting
To use up all available ammunition, such as bullets, cartridges, or arrows, by shooting.
Die Soldaten hatten ihre ganze Munition verschossen und mussten sich zurückziehen.
The soldiers had used up all their ammunition by shooting and had to retreat.
to fall for
To fall suddenly and intensely in love with someone. This expression is colloquial.
Er hat sich auf der Party sofort in sie verschossen.
He immediately fell for her at the party.
to fade
The fading of colors on fabrics, paper, or other materials due to exposure to light.
Die Farbe des alten Plakats ist durch die Sonne völlig verschossen.
The color of the old poster has completely faded in the sun.
to shoot one's bolt
An idiom meaning that someone has used up all their arguments, ideas, or options too early.
In der Diskussion hat er sein Pulver schon am Anfang verschossen und konnte später nichts mehr entgegnen.
In the discussion, he shot his bolt right at the beginning and later had nothing more to say in response.
The verb 'verschießen' is inseparable. The prefix 'ver-' remains firmly attached to the stem 'schießen' in all sentence forms and tenses.
Er verschoss den Ball nur knapp.
He missed the ball by only a narrow margin.
Most of the time, 'verschießen' forms the perfect tense with 'haben'. One important exception is the meaning 'verblassen' (to fade): here, the perfect tense is formed with 'sein' because it describes a change of state.
Der Stürmer hat den Elfmeter verschossen.
The striker missed the penalty.
In the meaning 'sich verlieben' (to fall in love), the verb is reflexive and is always used with the preposition 'in' and the accusative. The pattern is: sich in jemanden verschießen.
Sie hat sich Hals über Kopf in ihren neuen Kollegen verschossen.
She fell head over heels for her new colleague.
The phrase 'sich in jemanden verschießen' is colloquial. It describes falling in love very suddenly and intensely.
Kaum hatte er sie gesehen, hatte er sich auch schon in sie verschossen.
No sooner had he seen her than he had already fallen for her.
In a sports context, 'verschießen' is often combined with objects such as 'einen Elfmeter' (a penalty), 'einen Freistoß' (a free kick), or 'eine große Chance' (a big chance).
Die Mannschaft hat zu viele Chancen verschossen.
The team missed too many chances.
The idiom 'sein Pulver verschießen' (to shoot one's bolt) is fixed. The possessive pronoun changes according to the person acting (e.g., 'ich habe mein Pulver verschossen' — I have shot my bolt, 'sie hat ihr Pulver verschossen' — she has shot her bolt).
Warte mit deinem besten Argument, sonst hast du dein Pulver zu früh verschossen.
Hold back your best argument, otherwise you'll shoot your bolt too early.
to consume / use up
When talking about ammunition, both verbs can describe using it up completely. Verbrauchen generally says that the supply was used up; verschießen makes clear that this happened through actually firing the ammunition. When the manner of consumption is important, “verschießen” is more precise.
Während der Übung verschoss die Einheit ihre gesamte Munition.
During the exercise, the unit used up all its ammunition by firing it.
Während der Übung verbrauchte die Einheit ihre gesamte Munition.
During the exercise, the unit used up all its ammunition.
