ricochet off

ricochet off ((of) someone or something)

To rebound at great speed off of some person or thing. The cork went flying out of the bottle of champagne and ricocheted off my Dad in the middle of his speech. He fired at the criminal's vehicle, but the bullet ricocheted off and hit a pedestrian instead. Pieces of shrapnel were ricocheting off of the walls around where the bomb went off.
See also: off, ricochet, someone
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ricochet off something

[for some rapidly moving object, such as a bullet] to bounce off something at an angle. The bullet ricocheted off the wall and struck the gunman. Bullets were ricocheting off the walls from all angles.
See also: off, ricochet
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • (I've) got to take off
  • be well off for (something)
  • be well off for something
  • be off for (something)
  • be off for sth
  • (Now) where was I?
  • bounce off
  • bounce off (of) (someone or something)
  • bounce something off of someone
  • bounce something off someone
References in periodicals archive
Jordan Ayew brushed him aside to score the decisive goal, though the defender was thrown off balance by a ricochet off Jack Grealish and stuck out an arm to try to halt the Palace striker.
George Cater drilled the ball across and Liam Kirton's shot was superbly saved by Thomas Jackson, but the keeper saw the ball ricochet off Rian McLean into his own goal.
Sony's Tobias Otieno saw his well-curled free kick ricochet off the crossbar from 20 yards with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Mr Donaghy said: "It hit him directly because there was nothing to ricochet off.
Prior to that, Mr Coote hasn't done too badly by the Sky Blues in three games on the road - they lost 2-0 at Reading in February 2012 (a freak miscue by Jimmy Kebe and a point-blank ricochet off Jason Roberts) but beat Oldham 1-0 in September that year with a last-gasp strike by Cody McDonald and earned a worthy 2-2 draw at Preston in January 2013 thanks in part to a Chris Robertson own-goal.
The twists ricochet off in different directions but the integrity, tenacity and smarts of the main character are so appealing, it would be a real shame if Jake Fisher was the literary equivalent of a one night stand.
There seemed nothing on when the former Salford player got the ball 20 metres out but he fended off two defenders before kicking ahead and gathering a ricochet off a post to touch down.
Ledsham tried to clear Mickey Demetriou's left-wing delivery and Jones reacted first, closing in before seeing the ball ricochet off him and into the net.
Grant got a strong arm to the shot and was unfortunate to have the ball ricochet off his head and into the net.
If that happens, the fastener can ricochet off the spinning tail rotor blades, hit the stabilator like a missile and punch a hole in it.
Oh yes, I've also heard the gunshots; the shot ricochet off the buildings and my ear drums.
A ricochet off Declan Normaschild almost found City's net before Price again failed to capitalise on a marvellous opportunity.
The Birkenhead men's winner came after a 40-yard shot from Jebb was well saved by Jones only to ricochet off the post to Rooney, who was only too glad to fire home.
The Argentine attempts to cross the ball, which takes a double ricochet off two Boro defenders before falling at the feet of Bobby Zamora, who promptly slams the ball into the net from eight yards.
While physics textbooks correctly explain that short wavelengths of sunlight, such as the ones that we see as blue, more readily ricochet off atmospheric gas molecules into our eyes than do other solar wavelengths, that's only a partial answer, says electrical engineer Glenn S.