Verb
They catapulted rocks toward the castle.
The publicity catapulted her CD to the top of the charts.
The novel catapulted him from unknown to best-selling author.
He catapulted to fame after his first book was published.
Her career was catapulting ahead.
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Noun
The dramatic thump of the ship’s four electromagnetic catapults which shoot them into the sky is constant and can be heard throughout the ship.—Matthew Bodner, NBC news, 25 Sep. 2025 In comparison, the US Navy’s aircraft carriers still await electromagnetic catapults to launch F-35 stealth fighters.—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2025
Verb
The reunion wasn’t enough to catapult the Rangers back into playoff position last spring, but Drury decided to double down by naming Miller the 29th captain in franchise history on the eve of training camp.—Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025 The announcement coincides with the 30th anniversary of the release of No Doubt’s seminal sophomore album Tragic Kingdom, which catapulted the foursome to stardom, an accompanying press release detailed.—Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for catapult
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle French or Latin; Middle French catapulte, from Latin catapulta, from Greek katapaltēs, from kata- + pallein to hurl
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