1 : extremely and usually suddenly excited, upset, or angry : wild He went ballistic when he saw the dent in his car. and the crowd goes ballistic.
Where did the term going ballistic come from?
The idiomatic usage derives from the second-generation of jet fighters, armed with guided missiles, in the late 1950s into the 1960s, with the informal military sense of fully-powered non-ballistic missiles going ballistic when losing control and assuming a free-fall trajectory, sense 3.
Is ballistic A slang?
go ballistic Slang To become very angry or irrational.
Does ballistic mean crazy?
The adjective ballistic describes the flight of an object through space. The word comes from a Roman weapon called a ballista, which chucked rocks into the air, whose name comes from the Greek for “throw.” If someone has “gone ballistic,” they’re crazy with anger.
What is fly into a rage?
: to suddenly become extremely angry.
What makes a missile ballistic?
According to the Federation of American Scientists, a ballistic missile is one that has a ballistic trajectory over most of its flight path. What that means is that once the missile burns up the fuel that propels it, the missile keeps moving, the same way that a bullet does after it’s been fired out of a gun.
What does go ballistic mean in Urban Dictionary?
go ballistic Become extremely upset or angry, as in Dad will go ballistic when he sees you dented the new car. This expression, a variation on go berserk, originally alluded to a guided missile going out of control. [ Slang; mid-1980s]
What does it mean when your dad goes ballistic?
Become extremely upset or angry, as in Dad will go ballistic when he sees you dented the new car. This expression, a variation on go berserk, originally alluded to a guided missile going out of control. [ Slang; mid-1980s]
What does it mean when a singer goes ballistic?
The singer went ballistic after one member of his band failed to show for a sound check. COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers If something goes ballistic, it suddenly becomes very much greater or more powerful, often in a surprising or unwanted way .
What does it mean when a missle goes ballistic?
A guided missle that loses it’s lock will go ballistic, that is to say it becomes an unguided missile, likely to cause damage wherever it lands. Hence the use of ballistic to describe someone who has lost control and flown in a rage.
