ricochet

noun

1. the motion of an object or a projectile in rebounding or deflecting one or more times from the surface over which it is passing or against which it hits a glancing blow.

verb (used without object), ric·o·cheted [rik-uh–sheyd, rik–uh-sheyd] /ˌrɪk əˈʃeɪd, ˈrɪk əˌʃeɪd/, ric·o·chet·ing [rik-uh–shey-ing, rik–uh-shey-ing] /ˌrɪk əˈʃeɪ ɪŋ, ˈrɪk əˌʃeɪ ɪŋ/ or (especially British) ric·o·chet·ted [rik–uh-shet-id] /ˈrɪk əˌʃɛt ɪd/, ric·o·chet·ting [rik–uh-shet-ing] /ˈrɪk əˌʃɛt ɪŋ/.

2. to move in this way, as a projectile.

verb -chets, -cheting (-ˌʃeɪɪŋ), -cheted (-ˌʃeɪd), -chets, -chetting (-ˌʃɛtɪŋ) or -chetted (-ˌʃɛtɪd)

1. (intr) (esp of a bullet) to rebound from a surface or surfaces, usually with a characteristic whining or zipping sound

noun

2. the motion or sound of a rebounding object, esp a bullet
3. an object, esp a bullet, that ricochets

v.

1758, originally in a military sense, from French ricochet (n.) “the skipping of a shot, or of a flat stone on water” (see ricochet (n.). Related: Ricochetted; ricochetting.

n.

1769, from ricochet (v.) or French ricochet “the skipping of a shot or of a flat stone on water,” but in earliest French use (15c.) “verbal to-and-fro,” and only in the phrase fable du ricochet, an entertainment in which the teller of a tale skillfully evades questions, and chanson du ricochet, a kind of repetitious song; of uncertain origin.