Carambol is a polysemantic word. Cannon can be played or hit, it can be committed or eaten. After all, this word can mean a blow in billiards, a kind of billiard game, a clash of pairs in a dance, a predicament and an exotic fruit. Each value is worth considering in more detail.
Cannon in billiards
Carom in its first meaning is a kind of billiards. At the same time, this word means a hit in this game, when the cue-ball or the ball that is hit is successively hitting 2 object balls.
The carambola uses a table without pockets with a slate at the base, covered with cloth. Carom is played with polymer balls about 61 mm in diameter. The kit includes a completely white cue ball, a white cue ball with red or black dots, and a red aiming ball. Sometimes, instead of the second type of balls, they take solid yellow ones. The object ball must be on the back mark and the first cue ball on the front. The second cue ball is placed on the front line. The striker's job is to hit the ball so that his cue-ball hits the red ball first.
The cannon can be of various types: single-breasted and three-breasted, when you need to win the opponent by points, frame 47/1 or zone, frame 74/2, with chips and artistic. In the cannons of the frame, the table is divided into zones with certain sides, depending on the name. Balls must leave their areas, which are limited by thin lines or marks. To play carom with chips, you need wooden pins, which are in the middle of the table. They need to be knocked down to get maximum points. In the latter type of cannon, a strict sequence of contact of the balls with each hit is important.
Cannon in dancing
Carambol denotes a collision of pairs in dances, for example, during the execution of figures in a waltz. It is a mistake to consider carom a dance, although one can come across such a definition because of the song performed by M. Shufutinsky. Perhaps this meaning is associated with the billiard term, where carom, in addition to a kind of billiards, means the impact of balls against each other. When dancing couples collide due to incorrect performance of figures, a similar effect can be visually observed.
Figurative meaning
Cannon is called an unpleasant, delicate situation. Usually this term refers to some kind of scandals and showdown. People's confrontation, dispute, quarrel, perhaps even a scuffle - all this was called cannon 200-300 years ago. The nobles could call it a duel. In a figurative sense, carom sometimes denotes a very unexpected act, force majeure or a difficult situation.
Plant
Carambola or carambola is an evergreen Indian tree that also grows in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, South and Southeast Asia, Brazil, Ghana, Guiana, French Polynesia, the United States and Israel. The tree can reach 5 meters in height. Yellow carom fruits are called tropical stars, as they have a five-pointed shape in the cut. These are juicy, crunchy, sweet or sour-sweet fruits, rich in vitamin C. Carambola is used both for decorating desserts and drinks, and for food.