boomerang
Americannoun
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a bent or curved piece of tough wood used by Australian Aboriginal peoples as a throwing club, one form of which can be thrown so as to return to the thrower.
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something, as a scheme or argument, that does injury to the originator.
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Theater.
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a mobile platform, adjustable to different levels, for painting scenery.
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a batten, usually suspended vertically in the wings, for holding lighting units.
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verb (used without object)
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to come back or return, as a boomerang.
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to cause harm to the originator; backfire.
adjective
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coming back, returning, or backfiring.
the boomerang consequences of his lies.
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Informal. of or noting a person who returns to their parents’ home or to a previous job after a period of living or working elsewhere.
a boomerang kid;
boomerang employees.
noun
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a curved flat wooden missile of native Australians, which can be made to return to the thrower
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an action or statement that recoils on its originator
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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boomerangsimple
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boomerangssimple
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have boomerangedperfect
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has boomerangedperfect
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am boomerangingprogressive
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are boomerangingprogressive
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is boomerangingprogressive
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have been boomerangingperfect progressive
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has been boomerangingperfect progressive
Past
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boomerangedsimple
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had boomerangedperfect
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was boomerangingprogressive
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were boomerangingprogressive
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had been boomerangingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of boomerang
First recorded in 1820–30; from Dharuk būmariny
Explanation
A boomerang is a curved piece of wood that returns to the thrower if tossed correctly. To boomerang is to bounce back to a previous position like a boomerang. This word comes whirling to us from an Australian language (Dharuk). The primary meaning is the curved stick that returns to its owner after being thrown. Not just anyone can make a boomerang return: it takes practice and skill. Because a boomerang returns to its original point, it’s also a verb for things that return. This is often used negatively for things you would rather not see again: if a lie boomerangs, it comes back to haunt you.
Vocabulary lists containing boomerang
Australia and New Zealand - Introductory
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Australia and New Zealand - Middle School and High School
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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.
See Examples For:
That peace trade subsequently helped markets boomerang to records.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The clips boomerang around the internet and get analyzed and recapped for everyone by Sunday morning.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
I said, “I’ll tell you what, for the sizzle reel, we’ll do this: You are the son of two doctors. You are ‘the boomerang kid.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
We of all people should know the boomerang swings back, but we got too dependent on you to truly acknowledge that.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
Michael tells him that’s a boomerang and you’d have to go all the way to Australia to get the likes of that, you can’t get it in America.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Store workers blow giant colorful bubbles and throw boomerangs around, while jingles from electric toys and whirls from their wheels mingle with the chatter of shoppers’ conversations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
But the oldest images of boomerangs in Australia are rock art paintings 20,000 years old, according to National Museum Australia.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2025
“Don’t go toward the ball, let it bounce to you,” Guerra says after a ball boomerangs off the wall toward me and I miss it completely.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
A mysterious story about a boy finding a meteorite ingeniously boomerangs, coincidences mount, patterns emerge, junk proves valuable and she chooses to “take the side of amazement.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2022
Inexplicably, Clyde started flinging magazines across the room like he was throwing boomerangs.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
How has Marcello Hernández’s impression of you on “Saturday Night Live” boomeranged back to you?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Now the same policies they supported have boomeranged on them.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026
None of that boomeranged back at them at Ibrox either.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2023
That dropped to $19,000 per wedding in 2020 as COVID-19 restrictions limited gathering sizes, then boomeranged back to $28,000 in 2021 as restrictions on indoor gatherings eased and demand resurged.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 5, 2023
Thus I have come a long way and returned and boomeranged a long way from the point in society toward which I originally aspired.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Companies are bringing back retirees who formerly worked there full-time, known as boomeranging.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
This kind of thing might come back again, and certainly long balls are boomeranging back into fashion as the natural antidote to high pressing, short goal-kicks and high defensive lines.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025
It’s in Part 1 of the series finale, when she confronts Big for boomeranging back into her life right when she’s moving on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
"Good," Ronnie replies before the Thor lookalike can even finish speaking, choking back bites of a burger before boomeranging back to the zip line.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2023
For Lexie, the precedent was not quite so clear: her mother had grown up in Shaker and had never gone far—just down to Denison for her undergrad before boomeranging back.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
