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barrel roll

barrel roll

2 7.8
A flying stunt where a plane makes one full turn while rolling as it moves forward
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛrəl roʊl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vuelo en barril
  • During the flight demonstration, the pilot performed an impressive barrel roll that thrilled the spectators.
  • execute a barrel roll
  • perform a barrel roll
  • two barrel rolls

And when it came out the other side of the barn, it would like turn on its side and then do a, do a barrel roll and land.

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Examples

  • There was a barrel roll, another loop, a pass over the truck, and then the plane disappeared, swallowed up by a field of tall coastal Bermuda.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Hey, how'd the barrel roll go?

  • Everybody ready for the barrel roll?

  • Oh, the barrel roll was great.

  • Once high enough, it goes into a wild barrel roll.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Do a barrel roll!

    Blog text (1)
  • It did a barrel roll, and Lizette giggled.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • My memory carries little of the various acrobatics we engaged in, for they all merge in my mind as a dizzying sequence; but they included steep climbs, barrel rolls, and a final power dive over the Chesapeake Bay.

    Academic text (2007)
  • To showcase the aircraft's agility, the fighter jet executed a barrel roll while flying at high speed.

  • The instructor explained that a barrel roll is a maneuver where the plane rotates around its axis while spiraling.

Synonyms

roll
vsbarrel roll
  • Specialized
22 7.5

A plane move where it turns around its length without changing height

follows a helical flight path while rotating and so changes direction

Surface Forms

barrel roll singular
barrel rolls plural

Morphology

barrel + roll

The compound combines 'barrel' (a cylindrical object that rolls) with 'roll' (a rotation), so the maneuver can be visualized as an aircraft rotating like a rolling barrel. This is a straightforward, imageable metaphor found in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Barrel roll The air-show move barrel roll is named for the image of a wooden barrel rolling forward and turning over, just like the airplane does in the sky. That's why the phrase means 'a complete rotation of an airplane while it moves forward'.