What does "ricochet" mean?

A method of firing a projectile so that it skips along a surface.

What is a synonym for "ricochet"?

Common synonyms include: bounce, backfire, backlash, backlashing, boomerang, bounce.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A method of firing a projectile so that it skips along a surface.
2
a glancing rebound wordnet
3
An instance of ricocheting; a glancing rebound.
"And you've not been hit / By flying lead / You'd better close your eyes / Bow your head / Wait for the ricochet"

Verb

1
To rebound off something wildly in a seemingly random direction.
"Everything that could go right for England did although they never felt lucky and they chuckled at Kane’s third that ricocheted off his heel while he was looking the other way."
2
spring back; spring away from an impact wordnet
3
To operate upon by ricochet firing.

"He liked to skip rocks in the early morning and watch them ricochet across the smooth surface of the pond."

Borrowed from French ricochet, of uncertain origin.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.