cannonball

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The act of jumping (typically into a swimming pool) with the legs bent and the arms wrapped around the knees to create a large splash, mimicking the flight and shape of a cannonball.

   The New Yorker, 30 August 2004, p.40

2. 2
   noun

   Something that moves fast, especially a fast train.

   Meetings of the model train club always begin with the song "Wabash Cannonball".

3. 3
   verb

   To jump or dive into water, performing a cannonball landing.

   He cannonballed into the pool, drenching us all.

4. 4
   verb

   To career; to move rapidly.

   The car cannonballed past.

5. 5
   noun

   a solid projectile that in former times was fired from a cannon

6. 6
   noun

   A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

7. 7
   noun

   An explosive-filled hollow iron sphere fused through a hole and intended to explode at a calculated distance rather than explode on impact.

8. 8
   noun

   A served ball that travels with great speed and describes little or no arc in flight.

Etymology

From cannon + ball from being a round ball that is fired from a cannon.