boomerang
a bent or curved piece of tough wood used by Australian Aboriginal peoples as a throwing club, one form of which can be thrown so as to return to the thrower.
something, as a scheme or argument, that does injury to the originator.
Theater.
a mobile platform, adjustable to different levels, for painting scenery.
a batten, usually suspended vertically in the wings, for holding lighting units.
to come back or return, as a boomerang.
to cause harm to the originator; backfire.
coming back, returning, or backfiring: the boomerang consequences of his lies.
Informal. of or noting a person who returns to their parents’ home or to a previous job after a period of living or working elsewhere: a boomerang kid;boomerang employees.
Origin of boomerang
1Words Nearby boomerang
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use boomerang in a sentence
If there's good news, it's that boomerang babies aren't entirely those who can't afford to live on their own.
It would be one thing to attack her judicial philosophy, but attacks on her character as a Latina may well boomerang.
Snakes were always killed with sticks, whilst birds were brought down with the wonderful boomerang.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont | Louis de RougemontThe well-known instrument called the boomerang is Australian, and it is, perhaps, exclusively so.
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies | Robert Gordon LathamFigure 114 is the Nubian sword, which in form exactly resembles the boomerang.
The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
This much, all curved weapons of the boomerang form possess as a common property.
The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-RiversThe New Zealander throws his pattoo-pattoo, and the Australian throws the dowak and the waddy, as well as his boomerang.
The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
British Dictionary definitions for boomerang
/ (ˈbuːməˌræŋ) /
a curved flat wooden missile of native Australians, which can be made to return to the thrower
an action or statement that recoils on its originator
(intr) to recoil or return unexpectedly, causing harm to its originator; backfire
Origin of boomerang
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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