1 carom | Definition of carom

carom

noun
car·​om | \ ˈker-É™m How to pronounce carom (audio) , ˈka-rÉ™m\

Definition of carom

 (Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a shot in billiards in which the cue ball strikes each of two object balls
b : a shot in pool in which an object ball strikes another ball before falling into a pocket — compare combination shot
2 : a rebounding especially at an angle

carom

verb
caromed; caroming; caroms

Definition of carom (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to strike and rebound : glance the car caromed off a tree
2 : to make a carom
3 : to proceed by or as if by caroms carom from city to city

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Synonyms for carom

Synonyms: Verb

bounce, glance, rebound, ricochet, skim, skip

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Examples of carom in a Sentence

Verb

a ball caromed off the wall

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

So, a recession would be an interestingly injurious carom — a win, of a perverse sort — from his trade war. George Will, National Review, "Trade War Shows Reality of ‘America First’ in Action," 25 Aug. 2019 San Francisco’s explosion included an RBI triple off Austin Slater that took a wicked carom of the right-field wall, skipping past Blackmon and back toward the infield. Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Ian Desmond, Ryan McMahon, lead Rockies to comeback win over Giants," 2 Aug. 2019 Winker doesn’t hit the ball very hard, but left fielder David Dahl misplays the carom off the side wall, allowing Casali to score and Winker to cruise into third. Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Gray’s anatomy: One game at Coors Field through the eyes of the Rockies’ right-hander," 20 July 2019 Her debut in English, A Girl Returned, caroms from one side of the divide to the other. John Domini, Dallas News, "An Italian teenager meets the family she didn't know existed in 'A Girl Returned'," 1 July 2019 Shortstop Didi Gregorius wandered far into the outfield, retrieved the carom and made a long relay — and wound up hurting his elbow, an injury that required Tommy John surgery. Ben Walker, The Seattle Times, "World Series Game 1 to be cold one for Dodgers, Red Sox," 23 Oct. 2018 The former football star had a tough time tracking the ball and an even tougher time judging the carom off the Maine Monster, Portland’s Green Monster replica. Dan Gartland, SI.com, "Tim Tebow Flummoxed by Green Monster Clone, Has Triple Bounce Off His Noggin," 3 July 2018 Donte Ingram grabs the carom off a miss by Clayton Custer, then lofts a teardrop layup as the horn sounds to extend Loyola's lead over Michigan to 29-22 at halftime. Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, "Game recap: Michigan defeats Loyola, headed to title game," 31 Mar. 2018 Fried then made the double mistake of walking Chacín on a wild pitch to the backstop that allowed Saladino to score despite a carom back to catcher Tyler Flowers, who flipped to his pitcher, only to see the ball get away. Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Brewers 7, Braves 2: Jhoulys Chacín gives a weary bullpen some rest with 7 strong innings," 5 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The ball caromed away from left fielder Wil Myers, allowing Max Muncy to score from first base and Turner to scamper into second with a double. Los Angeles Times, "Dodgers slump gets worse as they let win vs. Padres slip through their legs," 26 Aug. 2019 Crawford’s line drive hung up in the air, but eventually caromed high off the ivy lining the right field wall and dropped to the warning track as the shortstop settled for a triple. Kerry Crowley, The Mercury News, "Windy City plays tricks on Giants, Samardzija’s strong start blown away in shutout loss," 22 Aug. 2019 The first pitch Yardley threw was lined to left field, directly at Josh Naylor, who had the ball carom off his glove for an error as Nick Senzel ran to second base. San Diego Union-Tribune, "Padres drop series to Reds, finish road trip 3-3," 21 Aug. 2019 Whatever suspense there was entering the game was gone by the sixth minute, when the long rebound of a Josh Perez one-timer caromed straight to Rossi, who put his shot inside the left post for his 14th goal of the season. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, "Carlos Vela scores two goals in LAFC’s rout of Earthquakes," 21 Aug. 2019 Moustakas airmailed a throw to first on a grounder by Jose Trevino, with the ball caroming off the facing of the stands to Hiura, who fired down to a covering Pérez at second for the easy out. Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Brewers 6, Rangers 5: Thames crushes walkoff homer," 9 Aug. 2019 Reds outfielder Nick Senzel crashed into the wall as the ball hit the heel of his glove and caromed about 60 feet toward right-center. Mike Digiovanna, latimes.com, "Tommy La Stella's inside-the-park homer sparks Angels in win over Reds," 25 June 2019 In the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Albies hit a shot off Alcantara's left heel that caromed into left field and allowed Culberson to score from second. sun-sentinel.com, "Marlins stun Braves with four runs in ninth inning and walk-off sac fly in 10th," 11 Aug. 2019 The ball caromed off Camden Yards’ brick backstop and right to Severino, who upon first turning back toward the diamond seemed for a split second to be surprised to see Tatis closing in. San Diego Union-Tribune, "Padres rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. runs around expectations, limitations," 29 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of carom

Noun

1779, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for carom

Noun

by shortening & alteration from obsolete carambole, from Spanish carambola

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More Definitions for carom

carom

noun
car·​om | \ ˈker-É™m How to pronounce carom (audio) \

Kids Definition of carom

 (Entry 1 of 2)

: the act of bouncing back at an angle

carom

verb
caromed; caroming

Kids Definition of carom (Entry 2 of 2)

: to hit and bounce back at an angle The puck caromed off his stick toward the goal.

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More from Merriam-Webster on carom

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with carom

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for carom

Spanish Central: Translation of carom

Nglish: Translation of carom for Spanish Speakers