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boomerang

 [boo-muh-rang]   Origin

boo·mer·ang

   [boo-muh-rang]
noun
1.
a bent or curved piece of tough wood used by the Australian Aborigines as a throwing club, one form of which can be thrown so as to return to the thrower.
2.
something, as a scheme or argument, that does injury to the originator.
3.
Theater.
a.
a mobile platform, adjustable to different levels, for painting scenery.
b.
a batten, usually suspended vertically in the wings, for holding lighting units.
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verb (used without object)
4.
to come back or return, as a boomerang.
5.
to cause harm to the originator; backfire.

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to spend time idly; loaf.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
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Origin:
1820–30; < Dharuk būmariny
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
boomerang (ˈbuːməˌræŋ)
 
—n
1.  a curved flat wooden missile of native Australians, which can be made to return to the thrower
2.  an action or statement that recoils on its originator
 
—vb
3.  (intr) to recoil or return unexpectedly, causing harm to its originator; backfire
 
[C19: from a native Australian language]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

boomerang
1827, adapted from an extinct Aboriginal languages of New South Wales, Australia. Another variant, perhaps, was wo-mur-rang (1798). The verb is from 1880.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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