ricochet

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: ric=o=chet

CIDE DICTIONARY

ricochet, n. [F.].

 A rebound or skipping, as of a ball along the ground when a gun is fired at a low angle of elevation, or of a fiat stone thrown along the surface of water.  [1913 Webster]

Ricochet firing (Mil.), the firing of guns or howitzers, usually with small charges, at an elevation of only a few degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or skip along the ground.

ricochet, v. t. 

 To operate upon by ricochet firing. See Ricochet, n.  [1913 Webster]

ricochet, v. i. 

 To skip with a rebound or rebounds, as a flat stone on the surface of water, or a cannon ball on the ground. See Ricochet, n.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

ricochet, n. & v.
--n.
1 the action of a projectile, esp. a shell or bullet, in rebounding off a surface.
2 a hit made after this.
--v.intr. (ricocheted; ricocheting or ricochetted; ricochetting) (of a projectile) rebound one or more times from a surface.

Etymology

F, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

ricochet

backfire, backlash, backlashing, boomerang, bounce, bounce back, bound, bound back, cannon, cannon off, carom, contrecoup, dap, fly back, graze, have repercussions, kick, kick back, kickback, lash back, rebound, rebuff, recalcitrate, recalcitration, recoil, repercuss, repercussion, repulse, resile, resilience, skim, skip, snap back, spring, spring back

ROGET THESAURUS

ricochet

Recoil

N recoil, reaction, retroaction, revulsion, bounce, rebound, ricochet, repercussion, recalcitration, kick, contrecoup, springing back, elasticity, reflection, reflexion, reflex, reflux, reverberation, rebuff, repulse, return, ducks and drakes, boomerang, spring, reactionist, elastic collision, coefficient of restitution, recoiling, refluent, repercussive, recalcitrant, reactionary, retroactive, on the rebound, on the recoil, for every action there is a reaction, equal in force and opposite in direction.

VB recoil, react, spring back, fly back, bounce back, bound back, rebound, reverberate, repercuss, recalcitrate, echo, ricochet.