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Fine Dictionary

boomerang

ˈbumərˌæŋ
WordNet
  1. (v) boomerang
    return to the initial position from where it came; like a boomerang
  2. (n) boomerang
    a miscalculation that recoils on its maker
  3. (n) boomerang
    a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Boomerang
    A very singular missile weapon used by the natives of Australia and in some parts of India. It is usually a curved stick of hard wood, from twenty to thirty inches in length, from two to three inches wide, and half or three quarters of an inch thick. When thrown from the hand with a quick rotary motion, it describes very remarkable curves, according to the shape of the instrument and the manner of throwing it, often moving nearly horizontally a long distance, then curving upward to a considerable height, and finally taking a retrograde direction, so as to fall near the place from which it was thrown, or even far in the rear of it.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) boomerang
    A missile weapon of war and the chase, used by the aborigines of Australia, consisting of a rather flat piece of hard wood bent or curved in its own plane, and from 16 inches to 2 feet long. Generally, but not always, it is flatter on one side than on the other. In some cases the curve from end to end is nearly an arc of a circle, in others it is rather an obtuse angle than a curve, and in a few examples there is a slight reverse curve toward each end. In the hands of a skilful thrower the boomerang can be projected to great distances, and can be made to ricochet almost at will; it can be thrown in a curved path, somewhat as a bowl can be “screwed” or “twisted,” and it can be made to return to the thrower, and strike the ground behind him. It is capable of inflicting serious wounds.
  2. (n) boomerang
    Hence Figuratively, any plan, measure, or project the consequences of which recoil upon the projector, and are therefore the opposite of those intended or expected.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Boomerang
    bōōm′e-rang a hard-wood missile used by the natives of Australia, shaped like the segment of a circle, and so balanced that when thrown to a distance it returns towards the thrower.
Quotations
Hatred is a boomerang which is sure to hit you harder than the one at whom you throw it.
Source Unknown
Florence Scovel Shinn
The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.
Florence Scovel Shinn
You REAP what You SOW: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.
Grant M. Bright
What do you call a boomerang that doesn't work? A stick!
Kirchenbaum
Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary Australian.

Usage in the news

Boomerang Generation Data Is Wrong. kuer.org

" Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition" (Encore presentation.). kwgs.org

The boomerang business is booming. pbs.org

" Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition". kwgs.org

' Boomerang ' kids and insurance: ensuring many happy returns. foxbusiness.com

I'm Not Seeing a Boomerang . nytimes.com

Our 20-somethings are referred to as the Boomerang Generation, noted for their failure to launch. nytimes.com

Review of Michael Lewis's ' Boomerang : Travels in the New Third World. ashingtonpost.com

Boomerang , By Michael Lewis. forbes.com

Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition. publishersweekly.com

After a three-year licensing dispute over the Shoney's Inn brand name, Boomerang Hotels was given permission by the Tennessee appellate courts to go ahead with a relaunch of the iconic hotel brand. lodgingmagazine.com

Nearly 1 in 7 parents with grown children had a " boomerang kid" move back home last year, according to a new Pew Research Center report. csmonitor.com

One in 7 parents of adult child have had a " boomerang " child return to the home last year. csmonitor.com

" Boomerang " Bandit Targets Arizona Banks. ktsm.com

The " Boomerang " Bandit now has a new name: "Chameleon" Bandit. ktsm.com

Usage in scientific papers

In the meantime new Boomerang results have branded this problem as a non-existent one.
Report to Anaximander: A Dialogue on the Origin of the Cosmos in the Cradle of Western Civilization

There have been some tantalizing indications from the recently completed 2dF survey for an interesting feature at the interesting scale of around 100h−1Mpc, a feature that has also been claimed to be observable in the APM power spectrum and as well in the new CMB Boomerang and Maxima data at k ≈ 0.06 − 0.6.
Report to Anaximander: A Dialogue on the Origin of the Cosmos in the Cradle of Western Civilization

The SNe Ia results very nearly constrain Ωv − Ωm , whereas the results of CMB anisotropies (from the Boomerang 98 data) favor a flat model with Ωv + Ωm ≃ 1.
TASI Lectures on Dark Matter

One could then ’see’ the dark matter everywhere! Cosmic shear data are optimized when they are used together with other surveys, like Boomerang, CBI, DASI, WMAP of Planck CMB experiments, SNIa surveys, or galaxy surveys (2dF, SDSS).
Gravitational Lensing by Large Scale Structures: A Review

The BOOMERanG (Balloon Observations Of Millimetre Extragalactic Radiation and Geomagnetics; see Figure 9) experiment used a 1.2 m microwave telescope carried to an altitude of 38 km by balloon launched from the US coastal station McMurdo by a US/Italian team.
The History of Astrophysics in Antarctica

Usage in literature

They saw Australian blacks clad with shields, long spears, and boomerangs, and nothing else. "From Pole to Pole" by Sven Anders Hedin

Pu'tc-ko-hu Boomerang hunting stick. "Eighth Annual Report" by Various

The "martyring," boomerang that it had proved, was over. "The Madigans" by Miriam Michelson

He had discovered the divine boomerang; his sin had found him out. "Eugenics and Other Evils" by G. K. Chesterton

Oh, I don't believe in your boomerang pasts! "Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911: The Moth and the Flame" by Clyde Fitch

This was the famous "boomerang," so effective a weapon in the hands of the natives, so useless in that of Europeans. "Celebrated Travels and Travellers" by Jules Verne

And now the boomerang against which she was defending herself struck her from a most unexpected angle. "The Loyalist" by James Francis Barrett

Either a club such as savages use or something to throw like a boomerang. "Simon" by J. Storer Clouston

It's bound to be a boomerang. "Baseball Joe Around the World" by Lester Chadwick

Stelton was the one man of the whole Bar T outfit who had suffered from the boomerang of his evil plans. "The Free Range" by Francis William Sullivan

Usage in poetry
He shelved me for a boomerang—
We never had a quarrel;
And, if a moral here doth hang,
Why let it hang—the moral!
The wallaroos grope through the tufts of the grass,
And turn to their coverts for fear;
But he sits in the ashes and lets them pass
Where the boomerangs sleep with the spear -
With the nullah, the sling and the spear.
But, if you study recent history, you'll note King Bill
Was most forlonly out of it; for they are at it still.
The daily fight for fatted grubs excites the same old gang;
And debate is mainly waddy, and division boomerang.
"I don't see 'er no more; 'cos I stopped one.
But, 'fore I sails, I gits a billy doo
Which sez, "Give my love to the dear ole Sun,
An' take an exile's blessin' 'ome with you.
An' if you 'ave some boomerangs to spare, Save me a pair.
"I thinks reel 'ard; an' then I lets it go.
I tell 'er, out at Richmond, on me Run --
A little place uv ten square mile or so --
I'm breedin' boomerangs; which is reel fun,
When I ain't troubled by the wild Jonops That eats me crops.
For the style of Party Government, in vogue about that time,
Was inclined to lead to discord -- not to mention down-right crime.
For boomerangs and waddies were used freely in debate;
And, as a rule, ex-Ministers were spoken of as "late."