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💡 To brainstorm 🧻 A paper ball ⚾ An illegal pitch
spitball

spitball

2 9.1
An illegal pitch where a player puts saliva or grease on the ball to change its movement
  • noun
  • /ˈspɪtˌbɔl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lanzamiento ilegal
  • The Ben Franklin close was a last resort, an amateur's way out, a spitball.
  • throwing a spitball
  • spitball pitcher
  • spitball pitches

I always loved Gaylord Perry, who was known far and wide for throwing a spitball.

Examples

  • Felix Manquez sailed a spitball at the blackboard.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • He'd been throwing spitballs.

    The Rains Came (1939)

  • - She's got a great spitball.

    Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)

  • - He must be throwing spitballs!

    The Natural (1984)

  • When you pushed the ramp into the hollow cane, the pressure caused the spitball to shoot out of the other end.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Besides his beloved spitball, Job was partial to another illegal gem he called his "needleball."

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Many pitchers in baseball have been known to throw a spitball to confuse batters.

  • The controversial spitball was banned in 1920 after pitchers abused the technique.

  • He was known as a master of the spitball, which helped him win many games.

Synonyms

pitch
vsspitball
171 2.5

An act of throwing or hitting a ball in sports like baseball

is a specific illegal thrown ball altered by a foreign substance
spitter
vsspitball
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An illegal baseball pitch in which the pitcher puts saliva or grease on the ball to change its movement

is the same meaning but uses an alternative name for the same act

Surface Forms

spitball singular
spitballs plural

Morphology

spitball = spit + ball (semi-transparent) = spit + ball

Components indicate saliva applied to a ball, but the technical baseball sense (an illegal pitch) is a specialized extension that may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Spitball In baseball, pitchers used to put spit or other stuff on the ball to make it move in strange ways, so that altered pitch was called a 'spitball'. That's why a spitball means an illegal pitch meant to change the ball's motion.