ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Cannonball

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈkænənˌbɔːl/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Cannonball is a noun meaning A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

Meaning

A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

More Meanings

  1. An explosive-filled hollow iron sphere fused through a hole and intended to explode at a calculated distance rather than explode on impact.
  2. (tennis) A served ball that travels with great speed and describes little or no arc in flight.
  3. (intransitive) To jump or dive into water, performing a cannonball landing.
  4. (intransitive) To career; to move rapidly.
  5. (diving) The act of jumping (typically into a swimming pool) with the legs bent and the arms wrapped around the knees to create a large splash, mimicking the flight and shape of a cannonball.
  6. (slang, figuratively) Something that moves fast, especially a fast train.

Example Sentences

The car cannonballed past.
The New Yorker, 30 August 2004, p.40
He cannonballed into the pool, drenching us all.
Meetings of the model train club always begin with the song "Wabash Cannonball".

Word Forms

Synonyms for cannonball

Depending on context, synonyms include ball, cannon ball.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include cannon ball, cannon, bullet, bombshell, bomb, ball.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.