boomerang

noun boo·mer·ang \ ˈbü-mə-ˌraŋ \

|Updated on: 24 Jun 2018

Definition of boomerang

1 : a bent or angular throwing club typically flat on one side and rounded on the other so that it soars or curves in flight; especially : one designed to return near the thrower

2 : an act or utterance that backfires on its originator

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boomerang

intransitive verb

See boomerang defined for English-language learners

See boomerang defined for kids

Recent Examples of boomerang from the Web

While that particular fact was made very clear, the 18 photos, videos, and boomerangs of her making matzo ball soup still left us puzzled about a few other things.

— olivia harrison, refinery29.com, "We Have So Many Questions About Kylie Jenner's Matzo Ball Soup," 19 June 2018
Returning Rage fans will also be happy to get their hands on the weird bladed boomerangs again, the Wingsticks.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Hands-on: Rage 2's Doom-inspired action is a maelstrom of guns, grenades, and gore," 15 June 2018
Adele shared several boomerangs of herself rocking out to the live stream on Instagram, while Chance the Rapper shared his utter amazement of the spectacular performance.

— mitchell peters, Billboard, "Adele, Iggy Azalea & More Celebs React to Beyonce's Historic Coachella Performance," 15 Apr. 2018
These tiny stealth boomerangs wing grids autonomously, shooting pictures that are stitched together into high-resolution 3D topographic models forty times more detailed than Google Earth.

— genesee keevil, Popular Mechanics, "The Rush: What the World's Greatest Gold Prospector Knows," 17 May 2018
Here are some of the boomerang images that were captured.

— jay l. clendenin, latimes.com, "Authors get animated in moving images at the Festival of Books," 23 Apr. 2018
Logan Broadbent, a world champion boomerang thrower (yes, that's really a thing), and friends wow us with their skills.

— doug criss, CNN, "5 things for March 28: North Korea & China, Sacramento, water park death, new organ," 28 Mar. 2018
On Sunday, the beauty brand posted a boomerang of their iconic Stunna Lip Paints, with a tiny and important detail at the end of the clip.

— zoë weiner, Teen Vogue, "Fenty Beauty Teases New Stunna Lip Paint Shades on Instagram," 30 Apr. 2018
California was a land of extremes well before humans started pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but Swain says that natural drought-to-deluge boomerang is already turning into whiplash.

— megan molteni, WIRED, "California’s Water Whiplash Is Only Going to Get Worse," 23 Apr. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of boomerang

Dharuk (Australian aboriginal language of the Port Jackson area) bumarinʸ

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1824

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

BOOMERANG Defined for English Language Learners

boomerang

noun

Definition of boomerang for English Language Learners

: a curved, flat, wooden tool that can be thrown in such a way that it returns to the thrower

BOOMERANG Defined for Kids

boomerang

noun boo·mer·ang \ ˈbü-mə-ˌraŋ \

Definition of boomerang for Students

: a curved club that can be thrown so as to return to the thrower

History for boomerang

The word boomerang was taken from a language called Dharuk, spoken by the native Australian people who lived around what is today Sydney, Australia, when the first Europeans landed there in 1788. Many Dharuk speakers died of smallpox, brought by European colonists, and the language was almost completely out of use by about 1850. Curiously, the earliest record of Dharuk, taken down in 1790, incorrectly described boomerang as a kind of wooden sword.