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carom

or car·rom

[kar-uh m]
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noun
  1. Billiards, Pool. a shot in which the cue ball hits two balls in succession.
  2. any strike and rebound, as a ball striking a wall and glancing off.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to make a carom.
  2. to strike and rebound.
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Origin of carom

1770–80; by false analysis of carambole (taken as carom ball) < French < Spanish carambola, special use of fruit name; see carambola
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

glance, skim, ricochet, strike, bump, rebound, graze

Examples from the Web for carom

Historical Examples

  • He learned to play French carom and pyramid pool,—every thing in fact.

    A Russian Proprietor

    Lyof N. Tolstoi

  • Max stopped in the act of trying for a carom, and stared at his sister.

    The Wharf by the Docks

    Florence Warden

  • "Yes, a good many years," answered Stark, as he made a carom.

    Driven From Home

    Horatio Alger

  • Finally, once I made a great fluke—a carom, followed by most of the balls falling into the pockets.

  • Carom, kar′om, n. an abbreviation for Carambole, the same as Cannon in billiards.

British Dictionary definitions for carom

carom

noun
  1. billiards, US and Canadian
    1. a shot in which the cue ball is caused to contact one object ball after another
    2. the points scored by this
    Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): cannon
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Word Origin

C18: from earlier carambole (taken as carom ball), from Spanish carambola
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

Word Origin and History for carom

n.

1779, earlier carambole (1775), from French carambole "the red ball in billiards," from Spanish carombola "the red ball in billiards," perhaps originally "fruit of the tropical Asian carambola tree," which is round and orange and supposed to resemble a red billiard ball; from Marathi (southern Indian) karambal. Originally a type of stroke involving the red ball:

If the Striker hits the Red and his Adversary's Ball with his own Ball he played with, he wins two Points; which Stroke is called a Carambole, or for Shortness, a Carrom. ["Hoyle's Games Improved," London, 1779]
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v.

1860, from carom (n.). Related: Caromed; caroming.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper