slingshot

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sling·shot / ˈslingˌshät/ • n. a forked stick, to which an elastic strap (or a pair of elastic bands connected by a small sling) is fastened to the two prongs, typically used for shooting small stones. ∎  [often as adj.] the effect of the gravitational pull of a celestial body in accelerating and changing the course of another body or a spacecraft.• v. (-shot·ting; past and past part. -shot or -shot·ted) forcefully accelerate or cause to accelerate through use of gravity: [intr.] the car would hit the first dip, then slingshot off the second rise | [tr.] Jupiter's gravity slingshots the fragments toward Earth.

slingshot