catapult
Syllables: cat·a·pult/ˈkæ.tə.pʌlt/
catapult noun: a device or weapon for throwing or launching large objects.
Noun
catapult (plural catapults)
- A device or weapon for throwing or launching large objects.
- A mechanical aid on aircraft carriers designed to help airplanes take off from the flight deck.
- A slingshot.
- An instance of firing a missile from a catapult.
- An instance of firing something, as if from a catapult.
- The visitors were given notice of what was to come when Huth headed wide from a Rory Delap long throw but failed to heed the warning, allowing the German defender to rise unmarked to meet another Delap catapult and plant his header into the net after 12 minutes.2011 March 13, Chris Bevan, “Stoke 2 - 1 West Ham”, in BBC
Verb
catapult (third-person singular simple present catapults, present participle catapulting, simple past and past participle catapulted)
- To fire a missile from a catapult.
- To fire or launch something, as if from a catapult.
- To increase the status of something rapidly.
- The candidate selection for running mate has catapulted her to the national scene.
- I was catapulted without preparation into the most difficult job any mortal man can hold. My duties would not wait a week, or a day, or even an hour.1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The Beginning”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 12
- To be fired from a catapult or as if from a catapult.
- To have one's status increased rapidly.
- She catapulted to the national scene following her selection by the candidate.
catapult meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
catapult in Hindi
- device for launching large objects
- गुलेल gulel, अवक्षेपक avakṣepak
catapult in Tamil
- உண்டைவில், கவண், கவண் எறி, கவட்டை, விசையுடன் பாய், விசைவில் பொறி
catapult in Marathi
- कॅटापल्ट, कॅटॅपुल्ट, कॅटॅपल्ट
catapult in Urdu
- device for launching large objects
- مِنجَنِیق minjanīq
More languagesFewer languages
- catapult in Bengali
- ক্যাটাপল্ট, ক্যাটাপল্ট করার জন্য, ক্যাটাপল্ট করতে
- catapult in Malayalam
- തെറ്റാലി, കവണ
- catapult in Kannada
- ಕವಣೆ, ಕ್ಯಾಟರ ಬಿಲ್ಲು
- catapult in Punjabi
- ਕੈਟਾਪਲਟ, ਕੈਟੈਪਲਟ, ਕੈਟਾਪੁਲਟ
- catapult in Gujarati
- કેટાપલ્ટ
- catapult in Odia
- କ୍ଯ଼ାଟାପଲ୍ଟ, କ୍ଯ଼ାଟାପୁଲ୍ଟ, କ୍ଯ଼ାଟାପଲଟ୍
- catapult in Nepali
- क्याटापल्ट, क्याटपुल्ट, क्याटपुल्ट गर्न
- catapult in Tagalog
- palintong
- catapult in Arabic
- مَنْجَنِيق manjanīq, مِرْجَام mirjām
- catapult in Malay
- tarpil
- catapult in Persian
- منجنیق manjaniq, منجنیک manjanik
- catapult in Thai
- แคทะพัลต์
- catapult in Vietnamese
- máy bắn đá
Examples of catapult in a sentence
- The band’s sophomore album built upon the success of their debut release, catapulting them to megastardom.
- Guns were considered improvements of crossbows and catapults.
- His inheritance catapulted him into a life of ease.
Forms of catapult
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | catapults |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | catapults |
| present participle | catapulting |
| past participle | catapulted |
| past | catapulted |
Origin of catapult
From Middle French catapulte, from Latin catapulta, from Ancient Greek καταπέλτης (katapéltēs), from κατά (katá, “downwards, into, against”) + πάλλω (pállō, “to poise or sway a missile before it is thrown”). Doublet of catapulta.
Words formed from catapult
Phrases with catapult
Questions about catapult
- What does catapult mean?
- Catapult means a device or weapon for throwing or launching large objects.
- What is catapult in Hindi?
- Catapult in Hindi is गुलेल (gulel), अवक्षेपक (avakṣepak). See Catapult meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is catapult?
- Catapult can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce catapult?
- Catapult is pronounced /ˈkæ.tə.pʌlt/.
- What is the plural of catapult?
- The plural of catapult is catapults.
Words near catapult in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: catapult (page history and authors); catapult (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); catapult (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); catapult (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); catapult (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); catapult (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); catapult (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); catapult (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); catapult (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); catapult (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-catapult.wav.
Cite this entry: “catapult.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catapult. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.