Dictionary Definition
cannonball n : a solid projectile that in former
times was fired from a cannon [syn: cannon ball,
round
shot]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Noun
- a ball which is for firing out of a cannon
- a way of running at a swimming pool and jumping in creating a
large splash, mimicking the flight and shape of a cannonball
- "I would call it a water-entry stunt, not a dive" — Coach O'Brien quoted in The New Yorker, 30 August 2004, p.40
Quotations
2004: The cannonball could be called the S.U.V. of the pool — oversized, brash, hormonally hardwired — The New Yorker, 30 August 2004, p.40Translations
- Chinese: 炮彈, 炮弹
- Dutch: kanonskogel , bommetje
- French: boulet de canon
- German: Kanonenkugel
- Korean: 포탄
- Russian: пушечное ядро (pushechnoe yadro)
See also
Extensive Definition
A cannonball is round shot
ammunition for a cannon.
By analogy, cannonball is also the name or
nickname of:
- A diving technique in swimming; unlike competitive diving techniques, however, its purpose is to maximize, rather than minimize, splash on water entry.
People
- Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, jazz alto saxophonist
- Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker, (1882-1960), man who traveled across the USA several times, and in whose honor, the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (aka "The Cannonball Run") was created
- Frank "Cannonball" Richards, a vaudeville performer whose act involved being shot in the gut with a cannonball
Fictional Characters
- Experiment 520, a character from Disney's Lilo & Stitch: The Series
- Cannonball (Transformers), the Decepticon space pirate in the Transformers toy line.
- Cannonball (comics), Sam Guthrie, a Marvel Comics character associated with the X-Men.
Movies
- Cannonball (film) (1976), a film inspired by Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker and his race
Music albums/songs
- Cannonball (Pat Green album), an album by Pat Green
- "Cannonball" (Breeders song), a song by the Breeders from the album Last Splash
- "Cannonball" (Supertramp song), a song by Supertramp from the album Brother Where You Bound
- "Cannonball", a song by Damien Rice from his 2002 album O
- "Cannonball", a song by Five Iron Frenzy from their 2004 album The End Is Near
- "Cannonball", a song by Dog Eat Dog from their album Walk with Me
Places
- Cannon Ball, North Dakota, a city in the USA
Television series
- Cannonball (TV series), a TV show about two truck drivers, produced in Canada in 1958-59 and syndicated in the U.S. in 1959-60
Trains
- The Cannonball an Illinois Central passenger train routing between Chicago and New Orleans, now designated in modern times as the City of New Orleans
- The Cannonball, a train operated by the Long Island Rail Road
See also
- Cannonball Run
- "Galileo's Cannonball", the first episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple
cannonball in French: Cannonball
cannonball in Dutch: Cannonball
cannonball in Japanese: キャノンボール
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
antelope, arrow, ball, bar shot, belly buster, belly
flop, belly whopper, bird shot, blue darter, blue streak, buckshot, bullet, cannon shot, case shot,
courser, crash dive,
crossbar shot, dart,
dive, drop, duck shot, dumdum bullet,
eagle, electricity, expanding
bullet, express train, fall, flash, gainer, gazelle, grape, grapeshot, greased lightning,
greyhound, hare, header, jackknife, jet plane, langrel
shot, light, lightning, manstopping bullet,
mercury, nose dive,
parachute jump, pellet,
pitch, plunge, pounce, power dive, quicksilver, rifle ball,
rocket, round shot,
running dive, scared rabbit, shell, shot, shrapnel, sky dive, slug, split shot, stationary dive,
stoop, streak, streak of lightning,
striped snake, swallow,
swan dive, swoop, thought, thunderbolt, torrent, wind