different between boomerang vs backlash

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Dharug bumariny.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?bu?m??æ?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?bum??æ?/
• Hyphenation: boo?me?rang

Noun

boomerang (plural boomerangs)

1. A flat curved airfoil, that spins about an axis perpendicular to the direction of flight, that was originally used in various parts of the world as hunting weapons or, in returnable types, for sports or training.
   • 1884, Andrew Lang, Star Myths in Custom and Myth,

     Some resemblance to terrestrial things, it is true, everyone can behold in the heavens. Corona, for example, is like a crown, or, as the Australian black fellows know, it is like a boomerang, and we can understand why they give it the name of that curious curved missile.

   • 1961, Charlie Drake, song, My Boomerang Won't Come Back,

     "Don't worry, boy, I know the trick, / And to you I'm gonna show it. / If you want your boomerang to come back, / Well first you've got to... throw it."

2. A breakdancing move in which the performer walks on his or her hands while keeping the legs raised off the ground.
3. (Australian rules football, rugby) A boomerang kick.

Synonyms

• kylie

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• frisbee
• woomera

Verb

boomerang (third-person singular simple present boomerangs, present participle boomeranging, simple past and past participle boomeranged)

1. (intransitive) To return or rebound unexpectedly, especially when the result is undesired; to backfire.
   • 1882 March 7, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters,

     "Well, there must be some flaw about this," I suggested. "If your magnet is so strong as all that, you would have your own broadside boomeranging back upon you."

   • 1899 November, "Showin' Off" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 99, Number 594,

     "Oh," they yelled, "you could, eh? Well, let's see you do it, then! Let's see you do it! Let's see you do it! Now!" In a moment the crew of little spectators were gibing at Horace. The blow that would make Jimmie's humiliation complete! Instead, it had boomeranged Horace into the mud.

   • 1985 February 2, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address,

     Our future economic success depends on the economy growing faster than government spending. That's why raising taxes would boomerang. Economic growth would slow, revenues would decline, and the budget deficit would swell.

2. (intransitive) To travel in a curved path.
   • 1894, Henry Lawson, The Mystery of Dave Regan in Short Stories in Prose and Verse,

     He said that to the horse as it boomeranged off again and broke away through the scrub.

See also

• bounce back

Further reading

• Discussion of the history of the etymology of the term on the Transient Languages & Cultures blog

Anagrams

• boogerman

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English boomerang, from Dharug bumariny.

Noun

boomerang c (definite singular boomerangen, indefinite plural boomeranger, definite plural boomerangerne)

1. a boomerang

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English boomerang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum.????/

Noun

boomerang m (plural boomerangs)

1. boomerang

Further reading

• “boomerang” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Spanish

Alternative forms

• bumerán, bumerang

Noun

boomerang m (plural boomerangs)

1. boomerang

English

Etymology

From back +? lash.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bæk?læ?/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Noun

backlash (countable and uncountable, plural backlashes)

1. A sudden backward motion.
2. (figuratively) A negative reaction, objection or outcry, especially of a violent or abrupt nature.

3. (mechanics) The distance through which one part of connected machinery, as a wheel, piston, or screw, can be moved without moving the connected parts, resulting from looseness in fitting or from wear.
4. The jarring or reflex motion caused in badly fitting machinery by irregularities in velocity or a reverse of motion.

Derived terms

• techlash

Translations

Verb

backlash (third-person singular simple present backlashes, present participle backlashing, simple past and past participle backlashed)

1. To cause or set off a backlash.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Anagrams

• black ash, hacklabs