cannonball

1 of 2

noun

can·​non·​ball ˈka-nən-ˌbȯl 

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

2 of 2

verb

cannonballed; cannonballing; cannonballs

intransitive verb

: to travel with great speed

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

Examples of cannonball in a Sentence

Verb

a dune buggy came recklessly cannonballing down the crowded beach

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Hundreds of items—including a cannonball, spectacles, a pewter bowl, and twenty-six unopened bottles of wine—had already been excavated. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024

Celestial cannonball galaxy Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of spiral galaxy IC 3225, which appears to be streaking though space like a cannonball, stretching its arms of stars out behind it in its wake. —Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024

Verb

Ari Daniel Shapiro: Franklin would leap from the aircraft and just cannonball through the air. —IEEE Spectrum, 1 June 2012

Made from a nylon and elastane blend, there is enough comfort and support to cannonball into your favorite lake. —Erinne Magee, Travel + Leisure, 17 May 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1899, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

cannonball

noun

can·​non·​ball

ˈkan-ən-ˌbȯl

: a usually round solid missile for firing from a cannon