Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ricochet \Ric`o*chet"\, n. [F.]
   A rebound or skipping, as of a ball along the ground when a
   gun is fired at a low angle of elevation, or of a fiat stone
   thrown along the surface of water.

   {Ricochet firing} (Mil.), the firing of guns or howitzers,
      usually with small charges, at an elevation of only a few
      degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or
      skip along the ground.