can·non·ball | \ ˈka-nən-ˌbȯl 
\
\Definition of cannonball
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a usually round solid missile made for firing from a cannon
2 : a jump into water made with the arms holding the knees tight against the chest
3 : a hard flat tennis service
4 : an express train
cannonball
verbcannonballed; cannonballing; cannonballs
Definition of cannonball (Entry 2 of 2)
: to travel with great speed
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Synonyms & Antonyms for cannonball
Synonyms: Verb
- barrel,
- belt,
- blast,
- blaze,
- blow,
- bolt,
- bomb
- [slang],
- bowl,
- breeze,
- bundle,
- bustle,
- buzz,
- careen,
- career,
- chase,
- course,
- crack (on),
- dash,
- drive,
- fly,
- hare,
- hasten,
- hie,
- highball,
- hotfoot (it),
- hump,
- hurl,
- hurry,
- hurtle,
- hustle,
- jet,
- jump,
- motor,
- nip,
- pelt,
- race,
- ram,
- rip,
- rocket,
- run,
- rush,
- rustle,
- scoot,
- scurry,
- scuttle,
- shoot,
- speed,
- step,
- tear,
- travel,
- trot,
- whirl,
- whisk,
- zip,
- zoom
Antonyms: Verb
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Examples of cannonball in a Sentence
Verb
a dune buggy came recklessly cannonballing down the crowded beach
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Oh, what if after that first step so small, Neil’s giant leap had been a cannonball?
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Washington Post, "Style Invitational Week 1410: Legends of the fall," 12 Nov. 2020 Dan Coates, president of the Archaeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake, said that cannonball’s provenance is hard to determine.
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James Whitlow, baltimoresun.com, "Cannonball possibly dating back to 1800s and designed for naval warfare found in Bel Air," 23 Sep. 2020 That bent spacetime causes the path of a free-falling object to curve, resulting in the parabolic arc of a cannonball on Earth or the elliptical orbit of the Moon.
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Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Famous shadow of black hole provides novel test for new theories of gravity," 2 Oct. 2020 Alkire said the office was notified of the cannonball at 10:07 a.m. Tuesday.
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James Whitlow, baltimoresun.com, "Cannonball possibly dating back to 1800s and designed for naval warfare found in Bel Air," 23 Sep. 2020 The cannonball appears to be the same type used during the English Civil Wars.
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Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, "A Construction Project Reveals Whale Bones Beneath a Road in Scotland," 23 June 2020 The Battle of Ridgefield left one particularly visible scar: a British cannonball still lodged in a corner post of the Keeler Tavern Museum today, though at the time the building was simply called the Keeler Tavern.
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Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, "Skeletons Unearthed in Connecticut May Belong to Revolutionary War Soldiers," 9 Jan. 2020 The project unearthed other relics, including an iron cannonball and a large stone wall that may both be remnants of Leith’s 16th or 17th century sea defenses, according to the Herald.
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Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, "A Construction Project Reveals Whale Bones Beneath a Road in Scotland," 23 June 2020 Also in 2019, a Civil War cannonball was discovered lodged in a walnut tree at a historic house in Independence, Mo.
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Fox News, "The last person to receive a Civil War-era pension died last week," 9 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Over the weekend, David, Victoria, and their kids joined Elton John and David Furnish on a yacht trip in the South of France for an Instagram-worthy day of bonding, sunbathing, and cannonballing into the sea.
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Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Victoria and David Beckham Live Their Best Lives on a Yacht with Elton John and David Furnish," 26 Aug. 2019 In February 2017, Ford cannonballed into the market, investing $1 billion self-driving startup Argo.
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Alex Davies, WIRED, "Softbank Pours $2.25 Billion Into GM's Bid for Self-Driving Dominance," 31 May 2018 In what can be considered typical Harbaugh fashion at this point, the Wolverines coach went ahead and cannonballed into the poll wearing his trademark khakis and polo.
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Chris Kwiecinski, ajc, "Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh spends his bye week Saturday practicing his cannonball," 30 Sep. 2017 Amazon effectively cannonballed into the placid waters of the grocery industry by grabbing headlines with price cuts.
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Greg Trotter, chicagotribune.com, "5 lessons learned from Amazon's first week with Whole Foods," 31 Aug. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cannonball.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cannonball
cannonball
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of cannonball
: a heavy metal or stone ball that is shot from a cannon
See the full definition for cannonball in the English Language Learners Dictionary
cannonball
nouncan·non·ball | \ ˈka-nən-ˌbȯl \
\Kids Definition of cannonball
1 : a usually round solid missile (as of stone or metal) for firing from a cannon
2 : a jump into water made with the arms holding the knees tight against the chest
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Time Traveler for cannonball
The first known use of cannonball was in 1606
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