Catapult

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkæ.tə.pʌlt/

Definitions

1. A device designed to launch objects at a distance ; to launch or throw something with great force
2. An apparatus that propels items through the air swiftly ; to hurl or propel something using sudden force
3. An instrument used to send objects flying through space ; to cause an object or person to be thrown or propelled with force

Etymology: The ancient machine and the verb share a surprisingly direct line. The Greek "katapéltēs" was a siege engine that hurled missiles, built from "katá" (downwards, into, against) and "pállō," a verb meaning to poise or sway a missile before throwing it. The name thus described the motion of the weapon itself: a swinging, aimed release. The Latin "catapulta" carried the word from Greek into the Roman military vocabulary, and French later took it up as "catapulte" before it arrived in English. Over the centuries the Greek term has given English both the noun for the device and, much later, the verb that describes flinging something with force. The machine was the original sense; the verb grew out of it. The word also exists in two forms in English, a doublet of "catapulta," which entered the language directly from Latin while the French-derived form came through a separate route. Both trace back to the same Greek engine.

Synonyms: hurl, launch, propel, fling, project

Antonyms: catch, hold, retain, drop, slow