From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Ballistic \Bal*lis"tic\, a.
1. Of or pertaining to the ballista, or to the art of hurling
stones or missile weapons by means of an engine.
[1913 Webster]
2. Pertaining to ballistics[2], or to a projectile in a
gravitational field.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
3. frenzied; very angry; -- used mostly in the phrase
{go ballistic}. [Colloq.]
[PJC]
{Ballistic pendulum}, an instrument consisting of a mass of
wood or other material suspended as a pendulum, for
measuring the force and velocity of projectiles by means
of the arc through which their impact impels it.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
go ballistic
v 1: get very angry and fly into a rage; "The professor
combusted when the student didn't know the answer to a very
elementary question"; "Spam makes me go ballistic" [syn:
{flip one's lid}, {blow up}, {throw a fit}, {hit the roof},
{hit the ceiling}, {have kittens}, {have a fit}, {combust},
{blow one's stack}, {fly off the handle}, {flip one's wig},
{lose one's temper}, {blow a fuse}, {go ballistic}]
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