cannonball

noun

1. 1

   A spherical projectile fired from a smoothbore cannon.

2. 2

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

3. 3

   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

   The cannonball could be called the S.U.V. of the pool — oversized, brash, hormonally hardwired.

4. 4

   figurativeSomething that moves fast, especially a fast train.

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

5. 5

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

verb

1. 1

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

   He cannonballed into the pool, drenching us all.

2. 2

   To career; to move rapidly.

   The car cannonballed past.

Forms

plural

cannonballs

past tense

cannonballed

past participle

cannonballed

present participle

cannonballing

third person singular

cannonballs