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

barrel-roll verb, transitive + intransitive

He once flipped a car at 225 miles per hour and barrel-rolled another at 307 mph.

—Preston Lerner

Examples of barrel roll in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are no surprises, whether doing a barrel roll to deflect lasers or flying under arches and through a waterfall to find an alternate path. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 27 June 2026

Roller coasters including the corkscrew barrel roll Turn of the Century were a big hit. — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026

After flying for over an hour around the Puget Sound, Russell completed a successful barrel roll before crashing the plane into Ketron Island. — Forbestv, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2026

The fintech roller coaster—after a few years of barrel rolls and corkscrews—is on a solid upward swing, says Immad Akhund, fintech Mercury’s cofounder and CEO. — Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for barrel roll

• amphibole
• asystole
• buttonhole
• casserole
• centriole
• decontrol
• glycerol
• metropole
• monopole
• multipole
• omeprazole
• oriole