variants
also ricochetting
as in bouncing
to strike and fly off at an angle
the ball ricocheted off the fielder's glove and went over the fence for a home run
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ricocheting
Wire services and newspaper correspondents sent Patrick’s tale ricocheting from coast to coast and around the world.
—
Steven Levingston, Vanity Fair, 23 Feb. 2026
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
—ABC News, 22 Feb. 2026
The pervasive use of less lethal tactics, caught on video and ricocheting across social media, began in late spring and summer in California and Oregon, expanded into Chicago in the fall and reached a crescendo in Minneapolis, where officers shot and killed two protesters last month.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
Throughout a year of ricocheting among genres, Smith has kept a mantra close to his chest.
—Sophia Solano, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2026
The decisive goal came as David Ruiz played a 91st-minute square ball to Santiago Morales that ended up ricocheting off Rivero before looping into the back of the net past a rooted Castillo.
—Gianfranco Panizo, Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 2026
When a star this size collapses, its mass shell then implodes before ricocheting outward.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2025
As rain pattered against windows, and trees lining the streets swayed, flurries of urgent texts began ricocheting from one end of the neighborhood to the other, and panic set in as some residents put on their shoes and hurried out the door.
—Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Every red and blue photon gets sucked into a plant for photosynthesis, just the green ones ricocheting through the understory to form a kind of therapeutic light bath.
—Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Steven Levingston, Vanity Fair, 23 Feb. 2026
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
—ABC News, 22 Feb. 2026
The pervasive use of less lethal tactics, caught on video and ricocheting across social media, began in late spring and summer in California and Oregon, expanded into Chicago in the fall and reached a crescendo in Minneapolis, where officers shot and killed two protesters last month.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
Throughout a year of ricocheting among genres, Smith has kept a mantra close to his chest.
—Sophia Solano, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2026
The decisive goal came as David Ruiz played a 91st-minute square ball to Santiago Morales that ended up ricocheting off Rivero before looping into the back of the net past a rooted Castillo.
—Gianfranco Panizo, Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 2026
When a star this size collapses, its mass shell then implodes before ricocheting outward.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2025
As rain pattered against windows, and trees lining the streets swayed, flurries of urgent texts began ricocheting from one end of the neighborhood to the other, and panic set in as some residents put on their shoes and hurried out the door.
—Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Every red and blue photon gets sucked into a plant for photosynthesis, just the green ones ricocheting through the understory to form a kind of therapeutic light bath.
—Rowan Jacobsen, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ricocheting
bouncing
Verb
-
Each nail has a double circle design that sits at a different spot on each nail, creating movement and appearing as if the circles are bouncing from nail to nail.—
Kara Jillian Brown,
InStyle,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The documentary rides an emotional seesaw, bouncing between moments of despair and elation during interviews dozens of AI fanatics and skeptics.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ricocheting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ricocheting. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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