barrel roll

noun

An aerobatic flying maneuver in which the pilot causes the airplane to complete one loop in the same time that the airplane completes one roll, creating the appearance that the airplane is riding on the inside of a cylinder.

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Meanings

nounbarrel roll (plural barrel rolls)

plural barrel rolls

  1. aeronauticsAn aerobatic flying maneuver in which the pilot causes the airplane to complete one loop in the same time that the airplane completes one roll, creating the appearance that the airplane is riding on the inside of a cylinder.
  2. A movement (usually during a car crash) where a car flips on its roof, then falls back on its wheels after doing at least one full 360° horizontal rotation.
verbbarrel roll (third-person singular simple present barrel rolls, present participle barrel rolling, simple past and past participle barrel rolled)

present singular third person barrel rolls · participle present barrel rolling · participle past barrel rolled · past barrel rolled · alternative barrel-roll

  1. To perform a barrel roll.

Translations

Catalan gir de barril
  • gir de barrilaerobatic maneuver
Chinese Mandarin 桶滾 /桶滚
  • 桶滾 /桶滚 (tǒnggǔn)aerobatic maneuver
French tonneau, tonneau
  • tonneauaerobatic maneuver
  • tonneaufull 360° horizontal rotation by a car
German Fassrolle
  • Fassrolleaerobatic maneuver
Irish rolladh bairille, rolladh bairille
  • rolladh bairilleaerobatic maneuver
  • rolladh bairillefull 360° horizontal rotation by a car
Italian avvitamento, tonneau
  • avvitamentoaerobatic maneuver
  • tonneauaerobatic maneuver
Latin volūtus āerius
  • volūtus āeriusaerobatic maneuver
Polish beczka
  • beczkaaerobatic maneuver
Portuguese rotação aérea
  • rotação aéreaaerobatic maneuver
Russian бо́чка
  • бо́чка (bóčka)aerobatic maneuver
Spanish tonel, vuelta de campana
  • tonelaerobatic maneuver
  • vuelta de campanafull 360° horizontal rotation by a car
Swedish roll, roll
  • rollaerobatic maneuver
  • rollfull 360° horizontal rotation by a car
Cite this entry
APA

barrel roll. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20roll

MLA

“barrel roll.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20roll. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barrel roll,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barrel%20roll.

Source: barrel roll on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.