cannonball

[ kan-uhn-bawl ]
See synonyms for cannonball on Thesaurus.com
nounAlso cannon ball .
  1. a missile, usually round and made of iron or steel, designed to be fired from a cannon.

  2. Tennis. a served ball that travels with great speed and describes little or no arc in flight.

  1. anything that moves with great speed, as an express train.

adjective
  1. made from a curled-up position with the arms pressing the knees against one's chest: a cannonball dive.

  2. moving at great speed: a train known as a cannonball express.

Origin of cannonball

1
First recorded in 1655–65; cannon + ball1

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

How to use cannonball in a sentence

  • Take up a heavy iron cannon-ball: this ball is composed of invisible molecules which do not touch each other.

    Urania | Camille Flammarion

British Dictionary definitions for cannonball

cannonball

/ (ˈkænənˌbɔːl) /


noun
  1. a projectile fired from a cannon: usually a solid round metal shot

  2. tennis

    • a very fast low serve

    • (as modifier): a cannonball serve

  1. a jump into water by a person who has his arms tucked into the body to form a ball

verb(intr)
  1. (often foll by along, etc) to rush along, like a cannonball

  2. to execute a cannonball jump

adjective
  1. very fast or powerful

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