ROLLER COASTER Definition & Meaning

roller coaster

noun

a small gravity railroad, especially in an amusement park, having a train with open cars that moves along a high, sharply winding trestle built with steep inclines that produce sudden, speedy plunges for thrill-seeking passengers.
a car or train of cars for such a railroad.
any phenomenon, period, or experience of persistent or violent ups and downs, as one fluctuating between prosperity and recession or elation and despair.

roller-coaster

[ roh-ler-koh-ster, roh-li- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

to go up and down like a roller coaster; rise and fall:
a narrow road roller-coastering around the mountain; a light boat roller-coastering over the waves.
to experience a period of prosperity, happiness, security, or the like, followed by a contrasting period of economic depression, despair, or the like:
The economy was roller-coastering throughout most of the decade.

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of a roller coaster.
resembling the progress of a ride on a roller coaster in sudden extreme changeableness.

roller coaster

noun

another term for big dipper

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of roller coaster¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Origin of roller coaster²

First recorded in 1960–65

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“The film is a roller coaster, which has divided audiences,” Ezban admits.

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A roller coaster of emotions followed, she recalled, from “grief to rage” — the rage being the magnitude of a fire that destroyed more than 5,400 homes and killed 12 people.

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Register that the park had initially hoped to reopen the ride, but sourcing replacement parts for the aging roller coaster had proved cost prohibitive.

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Get ready for a temperature roller coaster this week.

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During his solo visits to the park, he would skip the roller coasters, grab a snack and just walk around looking at everything, she said.

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