slingshot

noun

sling·​shot ˈsliŋ-ˌshät How to pronounce slingshot (audio)
1
: a forked stick with an elastic band attached for shooting small stones
2
a
: a maneuver in auto racing in which a drafting car accelerates past the car in front by taking advantage of reserve power
b
: a dragster in which the driver sits behind the rear wheels

Examples of slingshot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Professional Series will really pop your toast or bagel out like a slingshot once it’s done. Megan Wahn, Bon Appétit, 15 Nov. 2024 Every ten spaces or so is one that calls for a skill-testing competition between two teams—tug-of-war, a sack race, racing on stilts or targeting giant wooden geese by slingshot. John Last, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024 Meanwhile, Voyager 1 used Saturn as a gravitational slingshot to power itself past Pluto. Greg Wehner, Fox News, 31 Oct. 2024 This speed suggests that the system’s star might be a hypervelocity star, an example of a rare class of stellar objects that have been sped up by past encounters with other stars—or even a gravitational slingshot from the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for slingshot 

Word History

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of slingshot was in 1849

Dictionary Entries Near slingshot

Cite this Entry

“Slingshot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slingshot. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

slingshot

noun
sling·​shot ˈsliŋ-ˌshät How to pronounce slingshot (audio)
: a forked stick with an elastic band attached for shooting small stones

More from Merriam-Webster on slingshot

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