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Glite Dictionary
pinball machine

pinball machine

8 3.0
A coin-operated game with a tilted table where flippers keep a metal ball moving to score points
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪnˌbɔl məˈʃin/
translation icon : máquina de pinball
  • Children gathered around the vintage pinball machines to watch the ball bounce between the flippers.
  • arcade full of pinball machines
  • play a pinball machine
  • pinball machines and arcade games

And we would go in there and play the Gilligan's Island pinball machine and baseball cards were a huge craze.

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Examples

  • Yes, we got the new Rush pinball machine from Stern.

  • Do you like old pinball machines?

    Little Man Tate (1991)

  • You should get a pinball machine that works.

    Beerfest (2006)

  • The guy by the pinball machine.

    Cruising (1980)

  • We each wanted one too, and he took us to a pinball machine.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The pinball machine's mine, Jake, but you can play it anytime you want.

    Firstborn (1984)

  • I didn't have quarters for the pinball machine.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • It was an old gas station that now housed several pinball machines and a pool table.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Their offices are bright, colorful, and packed with nap pods and pinball machines.

    Blog text (4)

  • When Benny turned eight, one of Mr. Touhy's men brought over a pinball machine, and from that day on, until Benny and I broke the flippers six months later, we rarely left the den.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

pin table
vspinball machine
  • UK
6.5

A machine you play by hitting buttons to move a metal ball

is the general non-British term for the same device

How Complex

ride
290 2.0
pinball machine
8 3.0
handheld
35 3.7
toy
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pinball machine singular
pinball machines plural

Morphology

pinball + machine

The meaning is directly compositional: a 'machine' that is used for the game 'pinball' (i.e., a device for playing pinball). This noun+noun construction is a transparent, common way to name devices in English and other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Pinball machine may come from old tabletop games where small metal pins stood on a slanted board and players shot a metal ball to hit or knock them down. That's why pinball machine now means 'a coin-operated game' where a ball bounces off pins and targets to score points.