carom
Americannoun
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Billiards, Pool. a shot in which the cue ball hits two balls in succession.
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any strike and rebound, as a ball striking a wall and glancing off.
verb (used without object)
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to make a carom.
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to strike and rebound.
noun
Etymology
Origin of carom
1770–80; by false analysis of carambole (taken as carom ball ) < French < Spanish carambola, special use of fruit name; see carambola
Explanation
When something bounces against or ricochets off a surface, that's called a carom. You might enjoy watching the bumps and caroms of the bumper cars at the fair more than actually driving one. Carom is a verb, too, so you might describe a pinball machine this way: "When you push the buttons, flippers hit the little silver ball, which caroms around the machine, bouncing off the bumpers and kickers." The original meaning of this word is also one that's still in use — it's a game similar to pool or billiards, played on a table with no pockets. It comes from the Spanish word carombola, "the red ball in billiards."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ferociously bizarre balls of arms, legs and heads carom across the countryside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
But Muharemovic got his feet crossed, allowing the ball to carom to Balogun who did the rest, sweeping the ball into the net with his left boot from about 15 feet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Call perfectly played the carom off the wall on Michael Pérez’s two-out drive in the ninth off Kyle Finnegan holding Pérez to a single.
From Washington Times ● May 14, 2023
That goes beyond the first dent from 64-51 to 64-53, which occurred when Miami’s Wooga Poplar threw an inbound pass off a Texas player’s back, caught the carom and dunked.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2023
From time to time she was handed a glass of tea, the cracker tin was passed in her direction, and she helped children shoot chips across the carom board.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
