ballistic

[ buh-lis-tik ]

/ bəˈlɪs tɪk /

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adjective

of or relating to ballistics.

having its motion determined or describable by the laws of exterior ballistics.

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Idioms about ballistic

go ballistic, Informal. to become overwrought or irrational: went ballistic over the idea of a tax hike.

Origin of ballistic

First recorded in 1765–75; ballist(a) + -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM ballistic

bal·lis·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Words nearby ballistic

ball ice, balling, Balliol, ballism, ballista, ballistic, ballistic camera, ballistic galvanometer, ballistic missile, ballistic pendulum, ballistics

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ballistic in a sentence

There was one known albanerpetontid specimen that did have a long, thin bone preserved near its skull, and “I suspected for a long time that they had some sort of ballistic tongue mechanism,” she says.
An ancient amphibian is the oldest known animal with a slingshot tongue|Carolyn Gramling|November 5, 2020|Science News
Megan Squire, a professor at North Carolina’s Elon University, has monitored extremist-group members who lay ballistic vests flat and post pictures, like so-called unboxing videos popular on YouTube.
Americans are frantically buying military gear before the election|Rachel Schallom|October 24, 2020|Fortune
Meanwhile, air circulation and filtration won’t offer much protection from “ballistic” transmission—the ejection of droplets from someone who coughs, sneezes, or talks loudly.
Winter will make the pandemic worse. Here’s what you need to know.|David Rotman|October 8, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Cameron said his team of investigators reconstructed the events that took place that night by reviewing ballistics evidence, 911 calls, police radio traffic, and interviews.
Protesters hit the streets for a second night after officers aren’t charged with killing Breonna Taylor|Fabiola Cineas|September 25, 2020|Vox

According to the ballistics report, Mattingly was shot once by a 9 mm handgun, the gun that belonged to Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend.
Protesters hit the streets for a second night after officers aren’t charged with killing Breonna Taylor|Fabiola Cineas|September 25, 2020|Vox
And the Republicans are going to go ballistic, especially on immigration.
For Obama, Hell Week Has Arrived|Michael Tomasky|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Russia is also working on new a fleet of ballistic missile submarines, attack submarines to operate under the ice caps.
Russia Preps Its North Pole Invasion|Dave Majumdar|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Our right wing went absolutely ballistic this past summer over 60,000 kids, who came here for reasons we helped create.
Ebola and America’s Childish Narcissism|Michael Tomasky|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The latest showdown between the U.S. and Russia could go ballistic.
Congress Targets Russia’s ‘Satan’ Missile|Eli Lake|May 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The S-300 deploys sophisticated radars, launch vehicles and missiles to shoot aircraft and even ballistic missiles out of the sky.
Russia’s Ace in the Hole: a Super-Missile It Can Sell to Iran|Eli Lake|April 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Meta took the ship into the stratosphere, in a high ballistic arc that ended at the islands.
Deathworld|Harry Harrison
From a ballistic standpoint this cartridge was virtually obsolete.
America's Munitions 1917-1918|Benedict Crowell
This causes a ballistic throw proportional to the induction through the bar at the moment when the two portions were separated.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 3|Various
Between the magnetizing coils is a small induction coil D, which is connected with a ballistic galvanometer.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 3|Various
The ends of this coil were carried to a distant part of the laboratory, and connected to a sensitive ballistic galvanometer.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891|Various

British Dictionary definitions for ballistic

ballistic

/ (bəˈlɪstɪk) /

adjective

of or relating to ballistics

denoting or relating to the flight of projectiles after power has been cut off, moving under their own momentum and the external forces of gravity and air resistance

(of a measurement or measuring instrument) depending on a brief impulse or current that causes a movement related to the quantity to be measureda ballistic pendulum

go ballistic informal to become enraged or frenziedly violent

(of materials) strong enough to resist damage by projectile weaponsballistic nylon

Derived forms of ballistic

ballistically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with ballistic

ballistic

see go ballistic.