spitball

spitball
spitball spit"ball`, spit ball spit" ball`, n. 1. Paper chewed, and rolled into a ball, to be thrown as a missile; -- a childish prank. [1913 Webster]

2. (Baseball) A pitched ball in throwing which the pitcher grips the ball between two, or three, fingers on one side (which is made slippery, as by saliva) and the thumb on the other side, and delivers it so that it slips off the fingers with the least possible friction; -- also called {spitter}. When pitched directly overhand a spit ball darts downward, when pitched with the arm extended sidewise it darts down and out. The use of such a pitch is against the rules of professional baseball. [Cant] -- {Spit baller}. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • spitball — (n.) 1846 in the schoolboy sense; 1905 in the baseball sense, from SPIT (Cf. spit) + BALL (Cf. ball) (n.1) …   Etymology dictionary

  • spitball — ☆ spitball [spit′bôl΄ ] n. 1. a piece of paper chewed up into a wad for throwing 2. Baseball a pitch, now illegal, made to curve by moistening one side of the ball as with saliva …   English World dictionary

  • Spitball — A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of saliva, petroleum jelly, or some other foreign substance.Such a pitch presents an additional challenge to the hitter because it causes the ball to… …   Wikipedia

  • Spitball — Als Spitball, Spitter oder Mud ball, abgeleitet von den englischen Worten to spit für „spucken“ und mud für „Schmutz“, wird im Baseball Sport ein Wurf bezeichnet, bei dem der Spielball vom Pitcher (Werfer) durch Anfeuchten mit Speichel oder… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • spitball — spit|ball1 [ spıt,bɔl ] noun count AMERICAN 1. ) a very small ball of paper that a child puts in their mouth to make it soft and wet and then throws at another child 2. ) an illegal baseball throw done with a wet ball so that it curves a lot… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • spitball — v To guess, estmate. Can you spitball the crowd at the concert last night. 2000s …   Historical dictionary of American slang

  • spitball — noun Date: 1846 1. paper chewed and rolled into a ball to be thrown or shot as a missile 2. a baseball pitch delivered after the ball has been moistened with saliva or sweat …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • spitball — /spit bawl /, n. 1. a small ball or lump of chewed paper used as a missile. 2. Also called spitter. Baseball. a pitch, now illegal, made to curve by moistening one side of the ball with saliva or perspiration. [1840 50, Amer.; SPIT1 + BALL1] * *… …   Universalium

  • spitball — 1. noun a) A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels. b) A balled up piece of paper, moistened with saliva (by chewing) and shot through a drinking straw. 2. verb To …   Wiktionary

  • spitball — Synonyms and related words: bowl, cast, change of pace, change up, chuck, chunk, curve, downcurve, fastball, fling, flip, forward pass, heave, hurl, incurve, knuckleball, lateral, lateral pass, lob, outcurve, pass, peg, pitch, put, screwball,… …   Moby Thesaurus

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