roller-coastv.
/ˈrəʊləkəʊst/, U.S. /ˈroʊlərˌkoʊst/ 1.
a. intransitive. To move or travel as if on a rollercoaster; to move or travel quickly over a hilly or twisty course. Also transitive with the terrain as object.
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1885 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 24 Apr. This persistent practice of the dear public in getting off of moving cars, and either turning backward somersaults or roller coasting over the slippery paving-stones on their stomachs has lost more situations for street-car conductors and drivers than anything I know of.
1899 E. Stratemeyer Sailor Boy with Dewey iii. 25 For the next few minutes I felt as if I was roller-coasting up one mountain side and down another.
1914 G. E. Holt Morocco the Bizarre v. 81 In our little tug we roller-coasted over the bar at the mouth of the river and got into still water on the other side.
1958 M. Forsberg Land beyond Nile 116 We roller-coasted the hills and there it was.
1979 J. Hodgins Resurrection of Joseph Bourne (1980) i. i. 27 While he was rollercoasting downhill through the dark in Geoffrey's car an idea touched lightly in his brain.
1990 C. B. Divakaruni Clothes in Arranged Marriage (1997) 31 I yanked away the cover. I had to see... My breath roller-coasting through my body, my unlived life gathering itself into a scream.
1999 Backpacker Apr. 70/2 We roller-coasted along the Roan massif for hours.
b. transitive. figurative. To drive or move (a person or thing) onwards, or up and down, at a high speed or in an abrupt or unpredictable manner.
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the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > cause to move swiftly [verb (transitive)]
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speeda1387
whirry1582
winga1596
rattle?1611
race1734
to send along1867
zip1891
roller-coast1962
1962 R. Leckie Strong Men Armed 87 Cram roller-coasted his ship, diving and rising, diving and rising, while the Zeros raked him homeward.
1968 L. Thomas & L. Thomas Jr. Famous First Flights vii. 106 Striving for better visibility, he roller-coasted the plane through the sky.
1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1465/1 It is a ritual that defies time..and the giant forces that roller~coast us at increasing velocity to some eerie destination.
2007 S. Banick Accidental Enlightenment iii. xxi. 188 Days Three and Four roller coasted us between 13,000–14,000 feet.
2. intransitive. figurative. Of a situation, event, or phenomenon: to change abruptly and unpredictably.
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1926 Chicago Tribune 28 July 16/1 Nebraska was among the earliest to adjust itself to deflation when prices roller-coasted from the peak into the valley five or six years ago.
1972 N.Y. Mag. 24 July 58/3 His built-in-echo-chamber voice roller-coasts aimlessly up and down the octaves.
1978 Chatelaine (Canada) Dec. 14/2 Canada's rates of inflation and cost of living are roller-coasting.
2006 M. Nicol et al. Mandela 284 His life roller-coasted through peaks and valleys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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