Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A steep, sharply curving elevated railway with small open passenger cars that is operated at high speeds as a ride, especially in an amusement park.
  2. n. An action, event, or experience marked by abrupt, extreme changes in circumstance, quality, or behavior: "the demographic roller coaster caused by the baby boom” ( American Demographics).

Wiktionary

  1. n. alternative spelling of rollercoaster.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. An amusement railroad of varying design in which open cars coast by gravity over a long winding track in a closed circuit, with steep pitches and ascents, and in some cases loops in which the cars are briefly upside-down; typically, the cars are pulled by a chain device to the top of the first peak, after which gravity and momentum provide the only propulsive forces. In some cases, the cars are suspended from a monorail rather than resting on a track, and such cars may be made to swing outward at an angle near to the horizontal. It is a popular amusement at many amusement parks, but is sufficiently frightening to some people that they refuse to ride in one.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. elevated railway in an amusement park (usually with sharp curves and steep inclines)
  2. n. anything characterized by abrupt and extreme changes (especially up and down)

Examples

  • “So they did -- and after speeds in excess of light and accelerations up to one hundred gravities, Thorby found a roller coaster too exciting.”

    Citizen Of The Galaxy

  • “I can't keep putting my fsmily through this emotional roller coaster of will we be cold and homeless or not.”

    About.com Job Searching

  • “I always tell myself not to set my expectations too high, that summer movies are the cinematic equivalent of amusement park rides, and no one ever expected a roller coaster to provide a satisfying plot line.”

    I'm A Stranger Here Myself

  • “It was a strange roller coaster of an experience, moving along Pattern-like lines within the gemstone.”

    Knight of Shadows

  • “Can we be done with the "playing chess in a roller coaster pic" thing now?”

    digg.com: Stories / Popular

  • “W S  A 95% O-T D In recent years, key performance measures at the Dry Products plant of Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, Ind.) have been on a continuous roller coaster ride.”

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows

  • “His concern only made matters worse, keeping her on that emotional roller coaster that would eventually crash with her on it.”

    One Summer Evening

  • “MXN - The Peso saw a bit of a roller coaster ride as well last week ranging 2. 7% from a low of 12.6488 to as high as 12.9848 on mixed risk sentiment, mostly negative, in the markets.”

    FXstreet.com

  • “In that recognition came elation as the roller coaster rolled on.”

    Clear and Present Danger

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘roller coaster’.

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‘roller coaster’ has been looked up 485 times, added to 4 lists, and is not a valid Scrabble word.