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beachball

beachball

1 1.0
A large lightweight plastic ball used for fun at the beach or pool
  • noun
  • /ˈbiːtʃbɔːl/
translation icon : pelota de playa
  • Sand bubbler crabs filter food from the sand, creating thousands of tiny crustacean beachballs.

Examples

  • Whenever I turn this script on, the entire site begins to resemble a spinning beachball factory.

    Blog text (1)
  • - Like a big beachball.

  • What, like being hit by a beachball?

  • Then the view changed to the Earth, like a blue-and-white beachball.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Bob, I'd like to do some free association about my infancy: a beachball.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • He sat, his belly like a beachball between his legs, scratching at the earth with a stone.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • When the Calebans first sent us one of their giant metal "beachballs," communicating through this device to offer the use of jumpdoors for interstellar travel, many in the ConSentiency covertly began to exploit this gift of the stars for their own questionable purposes.

    Blog text (32)
  • The children laughed and played with a colorful beachball on the sand.

  • During the summer picnic, we tossed a giant beachball around in the pool.

  • At the beach, we brought a beachball to play games with friends.

Synonyms

ball
vsbeachball
1.0

A round object used in games like football or tennis

is a specific large lightweight beach toy used for water play
beach ball
vsbeachball
11 1.0

A large light ball filled with air for play on the beach or in a pool

is similar but often made from thin plastic rather than inflated

Surface Forms

beachball singular
beachballs plural

Morphology

beachball = beach + ball (transparent) = beach + ball

The meaning is a simple, literal combination of 'beach' and 'ball' (a ball used at the beach), which B1 learners can derive from the parts.

Etymology

Beachball is just the two words beach ('seaside') and ball ('round toy') put together, so it literally means a large, light ball used for playing at the beach or in a pool.