barrel roll
noun
1
: an airplane maneuver in which a complete revolution about the longitudinal axis is made
2
: a usually accidental occurrence in which a vehicle rolls completely over along its longitudinal axis
If the accident is violent enough to cause a couple of barrel rolls, the car will do so, despite the flaps.—
Connie Steele
Connie Steele
barrel-roll
verb, transitive + intransitive
He once flipped a car at 225 miles per hour and barrel-rolled another at 307 mph.
—Preston Lerner
Preston Lerner
Examples of barrel roll in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This ride is the first in the U.S. to have a barrel roll drop, or a drop where the riders twist in the air, from a 10-story hill.
—Nic Napier, The Indianapolis Star, 16 Aug. 2023
The car made more than six barrel rolls and came to a stop upside down up against a tire barrier.
—Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2023
That would include the ride’s Zero G barrel roll maneuver that travels over the loading station.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2023
Bo-Katan, Grogu and R5-D4 return to Mandalore and Grogu guides her to the cyborg-alien boss’s lair and the Mandalorian princess shows off her fighting prowess with a laser shield and a Darksaber—classic Dark Souls fighting style, replete with barrel rolls and tense combat.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
In particular, Lil Joe captivates audiences with barrel rolls that are so flawlessly precisely graceful they might be better characterized as aquatic pirouettes.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2023
The Zapata video shows the AirRacer doing a barrel roll, but that won’t be part of its protocol.
—Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 2 Feb. 2023
The reason to watch this new video of the Ghost Robotics Vision 60 quadruped is for the 3 seconds worth of barrel roll about 40 seconds in.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 June 2019
This means that the water from the bottle in the photo (assuming that the plane was doing some kind of aerobatic spin or barrel roll) would be pressed to the bottom of the plane during the maneuver.
—Kyle Hill, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2013
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Nic Napier, The Indianapolis Star, 16 Aug. 2023
The car made more than six barrel rolls and came to a stop upside down up against a tire barrier.
—Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2023
That would include the ride’s Zero G barrel roll maneuver that travels over the loading station.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2023
Bo-Katan, Grogu and R5-D4 return to Mandalore and Grogu guides her to the cyborg-alien boss’s lair and the Mandalorian princess shows off her fighting prowess with a laser shield and a Darksaber—classic Dark Souls fighting style, replete with barrel rolls and tense combat.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
In particular, Lil Joe captivates audiences with barrel rolls that are so flawlessly precisely graceful they might be better characterized as aquatic pirouettes.
—Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2023
The Zapata video shows the AirRacer doing a barrel roll, but that won’t be part of its protocol.
—Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 2 Feb. 2023
The reason to watch this new video of the Ghost Robotics Vision 60 quadruped is for the 3 seconds worth of barrel roll about 40 seconds in.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 June 2019
This means that the water from the bottle in the photo (assuming that the plane was doing some kind of aerobatic spin or barrel roll) would be pressed to the bottom of the plane during the maneuver.
—Kyle Hill, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2013
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barrel roll.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1917, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near barrel roll
Cite this Entry
“Barrel roll.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrel%20roll. Accessed 28 Sep. 2023.
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