carom
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kerahmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kɚˈɑm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other
countablebilliardsespecially billiards
A shot in which the ball struck with the cue comes in contact with two or more balls on the table; a hitting of two or more balls with the player's ball.
uncountable
A billiard-like Indian game in which players take turns flicking checker-like pieces into one of four goals on the corners of a board measuring one meter by one meter.
verb
To strike and bounce back; to strike (something) and rebound.
intransitive
To make a carom (shot in billiards).
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Typical Use
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other
Used this way, carom is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use carom
- “The car caromed off several lampposts.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.