ballistic

adjective

bal·lis·tic | \bə-ˈli-stik

Definition of ballistic

1 : extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry : wild He went ballistic when he saw the dent in his car. and the crowd goes ballistic

2 : of or relating to the science of the motion of projectiles in flight

3 exercise : being or characterized by repeated bouncing ballistic stretching

4 physics, of an object in motion : behaving like a projectile But the Bell Labs switch uses such a low current that the few ballistic electrons are a distance of a micrometer or more apart …— Robert Pool

5 of a material : capable of resisting or stopping bullets or other projectiles ballistic glass ballistic nylon … engineered specifically to be worn under ballistic vests and shirts.— K. M. Reese

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Examples of ballistic in a Sentence

she went ballistic when she discovered her sister using her nail polish

Recent Examples on the Web

The third was a new non-ballistic, hypersonic ICBM capable of evading US missile interceptors. — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, "Putin boasts new strategic weapons will make US missile defense “useless”," 1 Mar. 2018 The restaurant has even come up with its own food challenge to consume what is surely the city's most ballistic, fiery crawfish. — Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle, "Don't fear the Carolina Reaper seasoning at Casian Crawfish," 7 Feb. 2018 This track would play and the crowd would go ballistic, and the DJs would be cutting up the break. — Kat Bein, Billboard, "Louie Vega Breaks Down 'NYC Disco' Double Album: Exclusive," 29 June 2018 Lakers fans would adore him, and the rest of the country would be able to watch him go ballistic trying to beat his old teammates. — Andrew Sharp, SI.com, "Kevin Durant Won't Leave the Warriors, But Maybe He Should," 8 June 2018 Every comic out there seems to have a bit about the stereotypical overprotective parent who goes ballistic at a baseball or hockey game and gets hauled off in handcuffs. — Randy Blaser, chicagotribune.com, "Column: The do-over rule might help parents settle down during games, too," 3 May 2018 Rudolph was particularly beloved in Europe, and after her third gold spectators went ballistic. — Kate Siber, Outside Online, "How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman," 8 June 2018 According to NBC News, the removable ballistic shields given to Saint Cornelius Catholic School students could turn their backpacks into bulletproof vests. — Anne Branigin, The Root, "This Is America: Pennsylvania School Gifts Graduating 8th-Graders With Bulletproof School Accessories," 5 June 2018 Deason went ballistic and began preparing his lawsuits. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Paper Jam! How Carl Icahn And a Billionaire Partner Blocked Xerox’s Merger with Fujifilm," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ballistic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.