slingshot
Americannoun
noun
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): catapult. a Y-shaped implement with a loop of elastic fastened to the ends of the two prongs, used mainly by children for shooting small stones, etc
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another name for sling 1
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of slingshot
Explanation
A slingshot is a small toy or weapon that you can use for "shooting" stones. You might take aim at some old metal cans on a wall, knocking them off one by one with your slingshot. A slingshot works like a small catapult, with rubber strips holding a pocket where the stone or other projectile sits. When you pull the pocket back and release it, the stone is projected forward. Slingshots are simple in design, but they're relatively modern inventions that rely on rubber, which was invented in 1839. The earliest use of slingshots was mainly by young troublemakers. The ammunition in a slingshot is sometimes referred to as a sling-stone.
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:
He nudged his wheel right to slingshot his car around Malukas and nose ahead at some 230 mph.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
As for Artemis II, four astronauts External link, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, will slingshot around the Earth’s satellite on a 10-day mission.
From Barron's ● Apr. 1, 2026
Use of the words "catapult" and "slingshot" in crime logs do not conclusively show catapults were used – as the words may have been used in a different context.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
When David fought Goliath, he was just armed with a slingshot and a few stones.
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2025
She gave her train a quick twitch, and I flew out of it as from a slingshot.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Soboroff slingshots the reader from the Palisades fire station to the National Weather Service office, a presidential hotel room, toppled power lines in Altadena, helitankers above leveled streets and Governor Newsom’s emergency operations center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
Two years ago, a girl won at the toy fair for a game in which cats with slingshots fire hairballs that knock down household objects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
After the spacecraft slingshots past the Moon, the astronauts begin their four-day journey home, drawn back with the help of the Earth's gravity.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
It slingshots from the Pacific Northwest toward southern California over the next several days.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 23, 2023
They even carried slingshots loaded with very hard acorns, in case they met up with dangerous mail bandits along their postal route.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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.
