/ ˈbuːməræŋ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
a curved flat piece of wood that you throw and that can fly in a circle and come back to you. Boomerangs were first used by Australian Aborigines as weapons when they were hunting. ( figurative )
■ verb
[ v ] if a plan boomerangs on sb, it hurts them instead of the person it was intended to hurt
SYN backfire
••
WORD ORIGIN
early 19th cent.: from Dharuk .