Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Boomerang
Boom′er-ang
,Noun.
A very singular missile weapon used by the natives of Australia and in some parts of India. It is usually a curved stick of hard wood, from twenty to thirty inches in length, from two to three inches wide, and half or three quarters of an inch thick. When thrown from the hand with a quick rotary motion, it describes very remarkable curves, according to the shape of the instrument and the manner of throwing it, often moving nearly horizontally a long distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrograde direction, so as to fall near the place from which it was thrown, or even far in the rear of it.
Definition 2024
boomerang
boomerang
English
A wooden boomerang
Noun
boomerang (plural boomerangs)
- A flat curved airfoil, that spins about an axis perpendicular to the direction of flight, that was originally used in various parts of the world as hunting weapons or, in returnable types, for sports or training.
- 1884, Andrew Lang, Star Myths in Custom and Myth,
- Some resemblance to terrestrial things, it is true, everyone can behold in the heavens. Corona, for example, is like a crown, or, as the Australian black fellows know, it is like a boomerang, and we can understand why they give it the name of that curious curved missile.
- 1897, Warren Bert Kimberly, History of West Australia,
- With boomerang and spear they hunted the kangaroo and emu, and fought their battles beneath the eucalyptus forests; their minds, fresh, untroubled, contented, oblivious alike of noble ideals and philosophic principles.
- 1961, Charlie Drake, song, My Boomerang Won't Come Back,
- "Don't worry, boy, I know the trick, / And to you I'm gonna show it. / If you want your boomerang to come back, / Well first you've got to... throw it."
- 1884, Andrew Lang, Star Myths in Custom and Myth,
- A breakdancing move in which the performer walks on his or her hands while keeping the legs raised off the ground.
Synonyms
Translations
flat curved airfoil
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See also
External links
Verb
boomerang (third-person singular simple present boomerangs, present participle boomeranging, simple past and past participle boomeranged)
- To return to the starting point. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- To travel in a curved path.
- 1894, Henry Lawson, The Mystery of Dave Regan in Short Stories in Prose and Verse,
- He said that to the horse as it boomeranged off again and broke away through the scrub.
- 1894, Henry Lawson, The Mystery of Dave Regan in Short Stories in Prose and Verse,
- To return or rebound unexpectedly, especially when the result is undesired; to backfire.
- 1882 March 7, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters,
- "Well, there must be some flaw about this," I suggested. "If your magnet is so strong as all that, you would have your own broadside boomeranging back upon you."
- 1899 November, "Showin' Off" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 99, Number 594,
- "Oh," they yelled, "you could, eh? Well, let's see you do it, then! Let's see you do it! Let's see you do it! Now!" In a moment the crew of little spectators were gibing at Horace. The blow that would make Jimmie's humiliation complete! Instead, it had boomeranged Horace into the mud.
- 1985 February 2, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address,
- Our future economic success depends on the economy growing faster than government spending. That's why raising taxes would boomerang. Economic growth would slow, revenues would decline, and the budget deficit would swell.
- 1882 March 7, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters,
Derived terms
See also
Danish
Etymology
Borrowing from English boomerang
Noun
boomerang c (definite singular boomerangen, indefinite plural boomeranger, definite plural boomerangerne)