ricochet
[rik-uh-shey, rik-uh-shey or, esp. British, rik-uh-shet]
- the motion of an object or a projectile in rebounding or deflecting one or more times from the surface over which it is passing or against which it hits a glancing blow.
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- to move in this way, as a projectile.
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Origin of ricochet
1760–70; < French; origin uncertain
Synonyms
See more synonyms for ricochet on Thesaurus.com2. rebound, deflect, glance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ricocheted
Contemporary Examples
It was an idea that ricocheted around liberal blogs and talk radio outlets.
The funny thing is, the shot that Google fired at Facebook seems to have ricocheted and hit the wrong target.
William Styron was writing, James Baldwin was writing essays, and then this book just ricocheted around the country.
The stray bullet passed within three feet of Kennerly and ricocheted off a wall, slightly injuring a bystander.
Historical Examples
Gwynplaine, if we may coin the expression, ricocheted from one surprise to another.
The Man Who LaughsVictor Hugo
It ricocheted three times with a twanging noise and split along the centre.
One of the tiny slugs stung through my calf and ricocheted down the passage.
GreylornJohn Keith Laumer
Once, a stray shell burst several hundred yards away and a flying crumb of masonry fell in the nave and ricocheted a moment.
The Wasted GenerationOwen Johnson
He is said to have been killed by the wind of a cannon ball as it ricocheted along the ground.
Battle of Fort GeorgeErnest Cruikshank
ricochet
- (intr) (esp of a bullet) to rebound from a surface or surfaces, usually with a characteristic whining or zipping sound
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- the motion or sound of a rebounding object, esp a bullet
- an object, esp a bullet, that ricochets
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Word Origin
C18: from French, of unknown origin
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 ricocheted
ricochet
v.
1758, originally in a military sense, from French ricochet (n.) "the skipping of a shot, or of a flat stone on water" (see ricochet (n.). Related: Ricochetted; ricochetting.
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ricochet
n.
1769, from ricochet (v.) or French ricochet "the skipping of a shot or of a flat stone on water," but in earliest French use (15c.) "verbal to-and-fro," and only in the phrase fable du ricochet, an entertainment in which the teller of a tale skillfully evades questions, and chanson du ricochet, a kind of repetitious song; of uncertain origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper