ricochet
Other forms: ricocheted; ricocheting; ricochetted; ricochets; ricochetting
A projectile that bounces off another surface is said to ricochet. You missed when you threw your crumpled paper at the wastepaper basket. Instead, the paper ricocheted off the wall and hit your brother on the head. The battle was on!
As a noun, ricochet refers to the rebound or to the object that ricochets. If someone shoots a bullet and it ricochets off a tree, you can survive the initial gunfire only to be caught by the ricochet. The word ricochet is from the French word of the same spelling. Because of its French origin, the word is still pronounced with the soft French "shay" sound at the end — not a hard "T."
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spring back; spring away from an impact
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a glancing rebound
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synonyms:
carom
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type of:
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backlash, rebound, recoil, repercussion
a movement back from an impact
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backlash, rebound, recoil, repercussion
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Vocabulary lists containing ricochet
Bonjour, vocabulary connoisseurs! Did you know that almost 30% of words in the English language come from French? Brush up on these common English words derived from French and show everyone that your vocabulary is the crème de la crème. Here are links to our lists in the collection: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6, List 7, List 8, List 9, List 10, List 11, Terms
Pax, a fox, reunites with Peter, the boy who once cared for him, though both are struggling in the aftermath of war.
During the influenza epidemic of 1919, Rachel's guardians send her to England to impersonate their daughter and claim her inheritance.
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