cannonball

CEFRB2

/ˈkænənˌbɔːl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A large round metal ball fired from a cannon.

  2. 02

    noun

    A jump into water with knees pulled to the chest.

Examples

  • I'm the human cannonball that they're going to shoot through space.

  • The first human cannonball was a 14-year-old girl called "Zazel".

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Synonyms
3

Deep Dive

noun

Extra 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. 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.

  3. A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

More examples

In context

  • Tom is a human cannonball.

  • Meetings of the model train club always begin with the song "Wabash Cannonball".

  • The cannonball could be called the S.U.V. of the pool — oversized, brash, hormonally hardwired.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The heavy iron blank crashed through the wooden hull of the ship.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From cannon + ball from being a round ball that is fired from a cannon.