boomerang
n. countablen. a curved wooden tool that you throw, which is designed to fly in a circle and come back to you. It is also used to describe a plan or action that returns to harm the person who started it.
n. a curved, flat implement designed to return to the thrower when launched into the air. Often used metaphorically to describe a scheme or action that recoils upon its originator.
He threw the boomerang and caught it as it returned.
The politician's aggressive smear campaign acted like a boomerang, damaging his own reputation more than his opponent's.
While traditionally an Australian hunting tool, the boomerang has become a global symbol of cyclical return, frequently appearing in literature to represent the inescapable consequences of one's past actions.
Borrowed from Dharug bumariny.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Commonly used as a modifier in 'boomerang effect' to describe a result opposite to the one intended.
Last updated May 9, 2026