ricochet

noun ric·o·chet \ ˈri-kə-ˌshā , British also -ˌshet \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of ricochet

: a glancing rebound (as of a projectile off a flat surface)

the ricochet of the bullet off the wall

; also : an object that ricochets

He was hit by a ricochet.

See ricochet defined for English-language learners

See ricochet defined for kids

Examples of ricochet in a Sentence

He was hit by a ricochet.
the richochet of the bullet off the wall

Recent Examples of ricochet from the Web

The other involved a young hunter who fired at a rabbit from an elevated blind and the .22 caliber bullet hit, perhaps as a ricochet, and killed another young person who was about 150 yards away, walking unseen toward the blind.

— shannon thompkins, San Antonio Express-News, "There’s safety in numbers for Texas’ hunters," 8 Mar. 2018
The other involved a young hunter who fired at a rabbit from an elevated blind and the .22 caliber bullet hit, perhaps as a ricochet, and killed another young person who was about 150 yards away, walking unseen toward the blind.

— shannon thompkins, San Antonio Express-News, "There’s safety in numbers for Texas’ hunters," 8 Mar. 2018
The other involved a young hunter who fired at a rabbit from an elevated blind and the .22 caliber bullet hit, perhaps as a ricochet, and killed another young person who was about 150 yards away, walking unseen toward the blind.

— shannon thompkins, San Antonio Express-News, "There’s safety in numbers for Texas’ hunters," 8 Mar. 2018
The other involved a young hunter who fired at a rabbit from an elevated blind and the .22 caliber bullet hit, perhaps as a ricochet, and killed another young person who was about 150 yards away, walking unseen toward the blind.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "There's safety in numbers for Texas' hunters," 7 Mar. 2018
Aguero had a cross/shot ricochet off the crossbar and Oleksandr Zinchenko continued to impress down the left-hand side but his fizzing long-range effort flew past the post in the 23rd minute.

— SI.com, "Bristol City 2-3 Manchester City: Citizens End Robins' Story to Progress to Carabao Cup Final," 23 Jan. 2018
After a fortuitous ricochet, Martial skied his shot over the open goal, despite being convinced that Dan Gosling got the last touch.

— SI.com, "Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth: Romelu Lukaku Responds to Critics With Headed Winner," 13 Dec. 2017
Because numerous companies headquartered in mainland Europe have their trading arms based in London, marking permits issued by the U.K. could hit them by a ricochet.

— ewa krukowska, Bloomberg.com, "EU Reaches First Brexit Compromise in Carbon Market Plan," 30 Nov. 2017
With Meacham also getting hit, did one bottle ricochet off one coach did the other?

— nathan ruiz, ajc, "Gary Patterson says Texas Tech fan hit him with frozen water bottle in 2015," 14 Nov. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of ricochet

French

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1740

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

ricochet

verb

Definition of ricochet

ricocheted play \ˈri-kə-ˌshād\ also ricochetted play \ˈri-kə-ˌshe-təd\; ricocheting play \ˈri-kə-ˌshā-iŋ\ also ricochetting play \ˈri-kə-ˌshe-tiŋ\

intransitive verb

: to bounce or skip with or as if with a glancing rebound

The bullet that hit President Reagan had ricocheted off the presidential limousine.
—David Fisher

The ball ricochets at a right angle, falling with force into the first baseman's glove …
—Bob Drury

The chute snaps open, the sound ricocheting through the gorge like a gunshot, and McGuire is soaring, carving S turns into the air, swooping over a winding creek.
—Karl Taro Greenfeld