cannonball

play

noun can·non·ball \ ˈka-nən-ˌbȯl \

Definition of cannonball

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

See cannonball defined for English-language learners

See cannonball defined for kids

Recent Examples of cannonball from the Web

After the lesson, Kiara padded over to her mother and declared her love for throwing herself into the water with that tried and true method, the cannonball.

— vivian wang, New York Times, "Closing a Racial Divide, One Swim Lesson at a Time," 27 Aug. 2017
Avoiding the work, and a goodbye to the river, the kids and one of the guides did cannonballs and cartwheels off the front of a raft.

— jim buchta, Detroit Free Press, "Family rafts down the Colorado River in Utah because Grandma Mary wanted to," 12 Aug. 2017
Avoiding the work — and a goodbye to the river — the kids and one of the guides did cannonballs and cartwheels off the front of a raft.

— jim buchta, chicagotribune.com, "Call of the Colorado River leads to a family pilgrimage," 11 Aug. 2017
Thursday, fans get to stay after and, in true minor league promotional fashion, get to see a human cannonball shot out of a cannon. Friday-Sunday: Harrisburg is in for three.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Yard Goats: Week Ahead," 5 Aug. 2017
With blazing cannonballs flying and Greyjoy soldiers dropping to their deaths, Euron holds her at knifepoint while the ships around them burn and Theon panics, frozen and unable to help his sister.

— chanel vargas, Harper's BAZAAR, "This Violent Game of Thrones Detail You Missed Shows Just How Cruel Euron Greyjoy Really Is," 24 July 2017
Last week, workers at a building site in Quebec City came across something unexpected: a potentially live cannonball.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Found: 200-Year-Old Cannonball From French and Indian War," 19 July 2017
Don your floaties and make a giant cannonball splash into a pool.

— lorren au, Orange County Register, "Kick off the season with 60 of our best summer photos," 14 June 2017
Comey's first cannonball into the public eye came more than a decade ago, on May 15, 2007, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the firings of US attorneys by George W. Bush's White House.

— gregory krieg, CNN, "James Comey has a flair for the dramatic," 7 June 2017

These 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.