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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

ricochet

/ˈɹɪkəˌʃeɪ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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RIK-uh-shay: the ch sounds like sh.

In RIK-uh-shay, stress the first syllable and give SHAY a smaller beat. The final t is silent.

3 syllables · Stress on syllable 1

TRY SAYING
We heard the ball ricochet off the metal railing.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

What does ricochet mean?

noun

  1. A method of firing a projectile so that it skips along a surface.
  2. An instance of ricocheting; a glancing rebound.

verb

  1. To rebound off something wildly in a seemingly random direction.
More meanings (1)

verb

  1. To operate upon by ricochet firing.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɹɪkəˌʃeɪ/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

The general ricochet of the whole over pits and prominences had the gravest pitch of the chime.
Thomas HardyThe Return of the NativeProject Gutenberg ebook #122
The bullet was a ricochet, and struck the tigress below the chest, and travelled towards the heart, but without touching it.
James InglisSport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo PlanterProject Gutenberg ebook #10818
More book examples (3)
We had no ricochet to fear, and though one popped in through the roof of the log-house and out again through the floor, we soon got used to that sort of horse-play and minded it no more than cricket.
Robert Louis StevensonTreasure IslandProject Gutenberg ebook #120
The bullet of your thought must have overcome its lateral and ricochet motion and fallen into its last and steady course before it reaches the ear of the hearer, else it may plough out again through the side of his head.
Henry David ThoreauWalden, and On The Duty Of Civil DisobedienceProject Gutenberg ebook #205
I contend that the smashing up of the bullet is a mistake, excepting in certain cases such as I have already mentioned, where the animal is small and harmless like the black-buck, which inhabits level plains in the vicinity of population, and where the bullet would be exceedingly dangerous should it pass through the antelope and ricochet into some unlucky village.
Samuel White, Sir BakerWild Beasts and Their Ways, Reminiscences of Europe, Asia, Africa and America — Volume 1Project Gutenberg ebook #3657