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Idiom: Go Ballistic

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go ballistic 

Meanings

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. But in subsequent usage[1][2][3] the term has often become associated with the intentionally ballistic, suborbital trajectories of long-range, typically nuclear-armed missiles, sense 2.

How to pronounce "go ballistic":

AU

To become very angry and irrational.

for a usually rocket-powered, predominantly non-glide projectile or aerial vehicle, such as a ballistic missile, to travel to its target partly via unpowered ballistic or quasi-ballistic flight, usually following burnout of its rocket motor

for a powered, usually guided missile or other aerial vehicle to travel on an unguided or ballistic trajectory, having lost power, control or guidance

Example Sentences

1
My sister will go ballistic if she sees her laptop missing.
2
My dad will go ballistic if he finds out I borrowed his car without asking.

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