carom
or car·rom
[kar-uh m]
- Billiards, Pool. a shot in which the cue ball hits two balls in succession.
- any strike and rebound, as a ball striking a wall and glancing off.
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- to make a carom.
- 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
Examples from the Web for caromed
Contemporary Examples
The Infiniti suddenly backed up into the radio cars then caromed forward into a turn.
Historical Examples
Burke's glasses flew from his face, hit the catwalk and caromed off to the ground.
ShamanRobert Shea
Something wriggled at his knees and caromed off against Verba.
Local ColorIrvin S. Cobb
Allen blocked it with his chest and caromed it over to Swift.
Stand by for Mars!Carey Rockwell
It caromed off at a crazy angle, wobbling in its flight as the mercury within rolled from side to side.
Stand by for Mars!Carey Rockwell
At the door he tried to move aside but was too slow for the quick moving young woman who caromed off him.
MercenaryDallas McCord Reynolds
carom
- billiards, US and Canadian
- a shot in which the cue ball is caused to contact one object ball after another
- the points scored by this
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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 caromed
carom
v.
1860, from carom (n.). Related: Caromed; caroming.
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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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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper