cannonball
Americannoun
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cannonballs
plural
adjective
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made from a curled-up position with the arms pressing the knees against one's chest.
a cannonball dive.
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moving at great speed.
a train known as a cannonball express.
noun
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a projectile fired from a cannon: usually a solid round metal shot
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tennis
-
a very fast low serve
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( as modifier )
a cannonball serve
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a jump into water by a person who has his arms tucked into the body to form a ball
verb
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to rush along, like a cannonball
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to execute a cannonball jump
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cannonball
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:
My line stuttered forward and flopped onto the water with all the stealth of a cannonball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
It’s not a trust fall so much as a trust cannonball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
Of all the dirty, rotten, down-low things Netflix has done, providing a gaping pit of gold coins for Adam Sandler to cannonball into like Scrooge McDuck might be the worst so far.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2025
The British wanted to seize the ship and its treasure, but fired a cannonball into the San José’s powder magazines by mistake.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2024
Why there was a garden hose on the roof, Frank wasn’t sure, but every time the giants sent up a cannonball, Percy summoned a high-powered blast of water and detonated the sphere in midair.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Nearby buildings and a shopping center were evacuated as a precaution, Waltham fire officials said in a post on X, and the unearthed cannonballs were disposed of safely by the bomb squad.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 28, 2023
For years, it was unclear why, but a new study suggests jet expulsions of hot matter burped out like cosmic cannonballs are behind it.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2023
“Sometimes, we’d wait until boats were coming into the harbor and do cannonballs, splashing them,” she recalled often.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
The images centered on the 1797 warship USS Constitution, better known as Old Ironsides because, while it sank a British vessel during the War of 1812, its thick, oak hull survived a barrage of cannonballs.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
The ships were too far away to be hit, and the cannonballs fell into the river.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
