Do you know how to use the word ricochet in a sentence? This article will provide you with everything you need to know about the meaning of ricochet.
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Kevin
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April 12, 2022
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Have you ever seen something ricochet off of something else? This article will define the word ricochet and teach you how to use it in a sentence. In addition, we will provide you with all of the information you need on the word ricochet, including translations, synonyms, antonyms, and more!
What Does Ricochet Mean?
According to Dictionary, ricochet is an intransitive verb that means to deflect or bounce off of a surface. Therefore, the word ricochet can also be used as a noun to refer to such a deflection.
If you are in the military, you might see the word ricochet used in the term ricochet fire. Ricochet is three syllables (ric-o-chet), and the pronunciation of ricochet is ˈrɪkəˌʃeɪ.
How Can Ricochet Be Used in a Sentence?
You can use the word ricochet in many contexts in everyday life, both literally and figuratively. People consider the word ricochet neither casual nor formal, so it is appropriate in many settings. In these example sentences below, see if you can determine if this word of the day takes on a literal or figurative usage.
Example #1: A Ricocheting Bullet
We watch as the bullet ricochets off of the sets in the old Western movie and wonder how they kept all of the actors and crew members safe before the advent of special effects.
Question: Is the word ricochet used literally or figuratively in the above sentence?
Answer: The word ricochet is used literally in the above sentence.
Example #2: The Comments Ricochet
Their rude comments ricocheted off of the shy teenager with a glancing blow. While the young girl was quiet, she was very strong and knew that she could not let their bullying get to her.
Question: Is the word ricochet used literally or figuratively in the above sentence?
Answer: The word ricochet is used figuratively in the above sentence.
Example #3: Ricocheting Off of a Surface
She was nearly hit in the eye by the glancing rebound of the dime off of the hard surface of her English Dictionary. Luckily, she was able to dodge the ricochet.
Question: Is the word ricochet used literally or figuratively in the above sentence?
Answer: The word ricochet is used literally in the above sentence.
Example #4: Ricocheting Ideas
In the brainstorming session, the marketing and advertising executives ricocheted ideas off of one another for the upcoming campaign. By the end of the day, their collaboration led to great results.
Question: Is the word ricochet used literally or figuratively in the above sentence?
Answer: The word ricochet is used figuratively in the above sentence.
What Is the Etymology of Ricochet?
According to Dictionary, the word ricochet (ˌrɪk əˈʃeɪ) has an unknown origin in the French language. However, this word began its usage between 1760 and 1770 and likely came from the French ricocher.
What Are Translations of Ricochet?
Numerous languages outside of American English and British English have translations of ricochet. By looking at this list of translations of ricochet from Nice Translator, you can learn new verbs in many languages.
Studying language formation can be very interesting. Many languages order their sentences in different ways depending on the part of speech. Try picking a new language and studying up on how to form sentences! Can you form a sentence in another language using the verb ricochet?
- Serbian: рикошет
- Tamil: ரிகோசெட்
- Romanian: ricoşeu
- Estonian: rikošett
- Thai: แฉลบ
- Hebrew: רִיקוֹשֵׁט
- Korean: 스쳐 날기
- Bulgarian: Рикошет
- Gujarati: રિકોશેટ
- Malayalam: റിക്കോചെറ്റ്
- Spanish: rebotar
- Latvian: rikošets
- Polish: rykoszet
- Portuguese (Portugal): ricochete
- Hungarian: geller
- French: ricochet
- Amharic: ሪኮት
- Catalan: richet
- Greek: αποστρακίζομαι
- Slovak: ricochet
- Swedish: rikoschett
- Dutch: ricochet
- German: abprallen
- Portuguese (Brazil): ricochete
- Italian: rimbalzare
- Turkish: ricochet
- Japanese: リコーチェ
- Urdu: ریکوشیٹ
- Indonesian: memantul
- Basque: ricochet
- Croatian: odskočiti
- Welsh: adlamon
- Telugu: రికోచెట్
- Russian: рикошет, рикошетировать
- Kannada: ricochet
- Finnish: kimmota
- Hindi: रिकोषेट
- Ukrainian: рикошет
What Are Synonyms of Ricochet?
Power Thesaurus lists many words that you can use in place of the word ricochet. By referencing word lists like the one below, you can vary your words in writing and speech.
It’s never fun to read monotonous passages or listen to someone repeat the same words repeatedly. To prevent boring sentences and passages, you can substitute the word ricochet for any one of the below words!
- backfire
- backlash
- boomerang
- bounce
- bounce back
- bounce off
- bounced
- bounces
- bouncing
- bound
- bounded
- bounds
- cannon
- carom
- dap
- deflect
- echo
- fly back
- glance
- glance off
- graze
- hop
- jerk up and down
- jounce
- jump
- kick
- kickback
- kickback
- leap
- rebound
- rebounding
- rebounds
- rebuff
- recoil
- recoiled
- recoiling
- reflect
- reflection
- repercussion
- resile
- return
- reverberate
- saltate
- skim
- skip
- skips
- snapback
- spring
- spring back
- springing
- take a hop
- veer
What Are Antonyms of Ricochet?
If something does the opposite of ricochet, you can use one of the below antonyms of ricochet from Power Thesaurus. If something does not ricochet, it sticks or fastens to something else rather than bouncing off of it. Can you think of things that stick rather than things that ricochet and vice versa?
- abide
- adhere
- attach
- bear
- beat
- bind
- bond
- continue
- deposit
- drive-in
- endure
- fasten
- fix
- glue
- hold
- keep
- lodge
- maintain
- pierce
- place
- puncture
- put up with
- remain
- spike
- stab
- stand
- stay
- stick around
- stick in
- stick to
- stick together
- suffer
- support
- take
Conclusion
The definition of ricochet (ˈrɪkəˌʃɛt) is twofold in the English language. First, the word ricochet can be used as a verb to mean to bounce off of something. The word ricochet can also be used as a noun to refer to such deflection.
Can you think of things that ricochet?
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