Illustration of catapult
- catapult 1
cat·a·pult
ˈka-tə-ˌpəlt 
-ˌpu̇lt
1
: an ancient military device for hurling missiles
2
: a device for launching an airplane at flying speed (as from an aircraft carrier)
catapulted; catapulting; catapults
: to throw or launch by or as if by a catapult
: to become catapulted
he catapulted to fame
Synonyms
Examples of catapult in a Sentence
Verb
They catapulted rocks toward the castle.
The publicity catapulted her CD to the top of the charts.
The novel catapulted him from unknown to best-selling author.
He catapulted to fame after his first book was published.
Her career was catapulting ahead.
Recent Examples on the Web
Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Or at least not until Home Depot starts offering catapults and other siege equipment next to its lumber aisle.
—John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Jan. 2024
Or at least not until Home Depot offers catapults and other siege equipment next to its lumber aisle.
—John Tufts, The Enquirer, 24 Jan. 2024
Winning the Mavin auction catapults UMG deeper into the Nigerian Afrobeats scene — the umbrella genre that encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others that continues to explode around the globe.
—Dan Rys, Billboard, 26 Feb. 2024
Hollywood is shot down and Maverick struggles due to a catapult failure, but is able to shoot down three MiGs with Iceman destroying a fourth, forcing the other two to flee.
—Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 10 Feb. 2024
The action creates more of a catapult or whipping motion, taking pressure off the elbow.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
The day her class spent on campus commemorating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science by building catapults out of plastic spoons was supposed to encourage the students to break the trend.
—Sarah Blaskey, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 2024
Yet, TikTok can serve as a catapult to stardom if an artist remains consistent and continues to produce great music, Grant believes.
—Payton Kirol, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2024
TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.
—Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2024
Oppenheimer’s Trinity test sent a cloud of fallout over communities downwind of Los Alamos and into 46 states, according to a new study, catapulting the world into the nuclear age.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2024
The damage to the internet cables comes when the security of subsea infrastructure—including internet cables and energy pipelines—has catapulted up countries’ priorities.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024
Shaman, a singer whose pro-Kremlin jingoism has catapulted him to popularity amid wartime fervor, was scheduled to take the stage a day later.
—Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
And while the majority of Arie's reign was just slightly above-average, the emotional train wreck of an ending catapults his season into the top five.
—Madeline Boardman, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Houghton was not involved in the Kardashian-Jenner reality TV juggernaut that catapulted Kris and her family to global superstardom.
—Jack Guy, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
The same pandemic that catapulted the shipping industry to new heights could also help save Baltimore and the wider region from the worst effects of the port’s shutdown.
—Aarian Marshall Matt Simon, WIRED, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
But in 2016 the online-to-IRL catapult was still unpredictable.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Or at least not until Home Depot starts offering catapults and other siege equipment next to its lumber aisle.
—John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 24 Jan. 2024
Or at least not until Home Depot offers catapults and other siege equipment next to its lumber aisle.
—John Tufts, The Enquirer, 24 Jan. 2024
Winning the Mavin auction catapults UMG deeper into the Nigerian Afrobeats scene — the umbrella genre that encompasses Afropop, Afro fusion, high life and others that continues to explode around the globe.
—Dan Rys, Billboard, 26 Feb. 2024
Hollywood is shot down and Maverick struggles due to a catapult failure, but is able to shoot down three MiGs with Iceman destroying a fourth, forcing the other two to flee.
—Jacqueline Weiss, Peoplemag, 10 Feb. 2024
The action creates more of a catapult or whipping motion, taking pressure off the elbow.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2024
The day her class spent on campus commemorating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science by building catapults out of plastic spoons was supposed to encourage the students to break the trend.
—Sarah Blaskey, Miami Herald, 13 Feb. 2024
Yet, TikTok can serve as a catapult to stardom if an artist remains consistent and continues to produce great music, Grant believes.
—Payton Kirol, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2024
Verb
After Stevenson’s second defeat, his Democratic party learned its lesson and catapulted into the age of the media campaign.
—TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.
—Gary Shteyngart, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2024
Oppenheimer’s Trinity test sent a cloud of fallout over communities downwind of Los Alamos and into 46 states, according to a new study, catapulting the world into the nuclear age.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2024
The damage to the internet cables comes when the security of subsea infrastructure—including internet cables and energy pipelines—has catapulted up countries’ priorities.
—Matt Burgess, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024
Shaman, a singer whose pro-Kremlin jingoism has catapulted him to popularity amid wartime fervor, was scheduled to take the stage a day later.
—Michael Schwirtz, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
And while the majority of Arie's reign was just slightly above-average, the emotional train wreck of an ending catapults his season into the top five.
—Madeline Boardman, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Houghton was not involved in the Kardashian-Jenner reality TV juggernaut that catapulted Kris and her family to global superstardom.
—Jack Guy, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
The same pandemic that catapulted the shipping industry to new heights could also help save Baltimore and the wider region from the worst effects of the port’s shutdown.
—Aarian Marshall Matt Simon, WIRED, 27 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'catapult.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near catapult
Cite this Entry
“Catapult.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catapult. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
catapult
1 of 2 noun
cat·a·pult
ˈkat-ə-ˌpəlt
-ˌpu̇lt
1
: an ancient military device for hurling missiles
2
: a device for launching an airplane (as from the deck of an aircraft carrier)
catapult
2 of 2 verb1
: to throw or launch by or as if by a catapult
2
: to become catapulted
he catapulted to fame
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