ricochet
Americannoun
-
ricochets
plural
verb (used without object)
-
ricochets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ricocheted,
past participle, past
-
ricochetted,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
ricocheting,
present participle
-
ricochetting
present participle (especially British)
verb
noun
-
the motion or sound of a rebounding object, esp a bullet
-
an object, esp a bullet, that ricochets
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ricochetsimple
-
ricochetssimple
-
have ricochetedperfect
-
have ricochettedperfect
-
has ricochetedperfect
-
has ricochettedperfect
-
am ricochetingprogressive
-
am ricochettingprogressive
-
are ricochetingprogressive
-
are ricochettingprogressive
-
is ricochetingprogressive
-
is ricochettingprogressive
-
have been ricochetingperfect progressive
-
have been ricochettingperfect progressive
-
has been ricochetingperfect progressive
-
has been ricochettingperfect progressive
Past
-
ricochetedsimple
-
ricochettedsimple
-
had ricochetedperfect
-
had ricochettedperfect
-
was ricochetingprogressive
-
was ricochettingprogressive
-
were ricochetingprogressive
-
were ricochettingprogressive
-
had been ricochetingperfect progressive
-
had been ricochettingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ricochet
First recorded in 1760–70; from French; further origin uncertain
Explanation
A projectile that bounces off another surface is said to ricochet. You missed when you threw your crumpled paper at the wastepaper basket. Instead, the paper ricocheted off the wall and hit your brother on the head. The battle was on! As a noun, ricochet refers to the rebound or to the object that ricochets. If someone shoots a bullet and it ricochets off a tree, you can survive the initial gunfire only to be caught by the ricochet. The word ricochet is from the French word of the same spelling. Because of its French origin, the word is still pronounced with the soft French "shay" sound at the end — not a hard "T."
Vocabulary lists containing ricochet
Touching Spirit Bear
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The Skin I'm In
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Code Talker
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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:
Engineers said they were able to debunk some "myths", including that bullets can ricochet off the curve in the ballistic plate.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
That means any deteriorating credit backdrop, a pickup in credit losses or higher yields still could ricochet through private credit or other publicly traded funds.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The court ruling was the latest legal move to ricochet through the interoceanic waterway, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Their best hope is putting a body part in the way—and hoping a Capitals teammate isn’t there to redirect the ricochet into the net.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2025
Lazlo could see the ricochet of feeling in her, the tentative surge of hope flinching back toward the firmer ground of dread.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
"Is anyone alive in here?!" the voice of Moises Faramaya ricochets around the ruins of the same neighborhood.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
In her refusal to shy away from the grime and grit of Yuknavitch’s story, Stewart creates a startlingly raw atmosphere that ricochets between discordant and truly inspiring.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026
The book ricochets back and forth in time, with such section headings as “Twelve Days Before the Robbery” and “Thirteen Years Earlier.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Neat play down the right and a lovely reverse pass from Jordan Bowery sees Davis Keillor-Dunn burst into the box, but his shot ricochets up off U's keeper Owen Goodman.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2024
My call ricochets across the camp and into the canyons.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
However, the ball bounced off Basallo’s gear and ricocheted away from the plate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026
The firm’s unraveling ricocheted across the financial world, especially on now-defunct Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which had sold loans by the firm to its clients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
The Monroe appearance then ricocheted across the internet with the kind of viral intensity traditional late-night television has not generated in years.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
It's a phrase that first ricocheted through Budapest during Hungary's ill-fated anti-communist uprising of 1956.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
The coins flew to the ceiling, then ricocheted and spun around the room before landing on various parts of the red tile floor with tiny pings.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Striking the water within twenty yards of its objective, the missile had ricochetted, and had shattered the torpedo-boat's foremost funnel.
From The Dispatch-Riders The Adventures of Two British Motor-cyclists in the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
Back and forth he ricochetted along the narrow street, singing and swinging, mouth open, with strange, happy cries coming from it.
From Civilization Tales of the Orient by Ellen Newbold La Motte
The missile passed a few feet in front of the tramp's bows, and, throwing up a shower of spray that burst inboard on the British vessel's fo'c'sle, ricochetted a mile or so away.
From The Submarine Hunters A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War by Edward S. Hodgson
Closer and closer came the brig—now her bow-guns sputtered—and a shot ricochetted near the lean prow of the Providence.
From Famous Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea Their rovings, cruises, escapades, and fierce battling upon the ocean for patriotism and for treasure by Charles Haven Ladd Johnston
It ricochetted and struck again half a mile outside.
From The Boys of '98 by James Otis
Because helium’s industrial uses are so broad, shortages are ricocheting through multiple sectors and countries at once.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
Their motion resembles a pinball ricocheting between stationary posts.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2025
Another defensive mess in the second half resulted in Dane Murray's attempted clearance ricocheting off Gabri Martinez and into the back of the net.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
The incident has fueled a storm of late-summer ridicule, with memes ricocheting across social media and commentators pointing to the almost slapstick nature of the scandal.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2025
He slammed into the trunk of a tree, ricocheting off.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
From cunningly concealed shore batteries, that seemed to multiply with hydra-headed persistence, German shells hurtled through the air, for the most part ricochetting harmlessly.
From Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. A story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
It seemed as if nothing could prevent the projectiles from Kilid Bahr and the adjacent batteries ricochetting into Chanak and the forts on the Asiatic shore.
From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
At this moment a white cloud burst from the schooner’s bow, and a shot, evidently from a heavy gun, came ricochetting over the sea.
From Martin Rattler by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
The balls went skipping along after striking the ground a hundred yards or so beyond the enemy’s battery, and, ricochetting, darted right for the solid moving mass of men.
From The Young Castellan A Tale of the English Civil War by George Manville Fenn
These came down past us like cannon-balls, ricochetting by big bounds.
From Noto: an Unexplained Corner of Japan by Percival Lowell
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.
