hairball
20
3.2
- noun
- /ˈhɛrˌbɔl/
:
bola de pelo
- To avoid getting a hairball, it's important to regularly groom your pets and provide them with special food.
- cough up a hairball
- cats cough hairballs
- hack up a hairball
Examples
-
Cats do it before they cough up a hairball.
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After grooming herself for too long, the cat suddenly coughed up a hairball on the floor.
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No, I feel a... hairball coming on.
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No, I just got a hairball.
-
Did your cat hack up a hairball on your staircase this morning?
Blog text (4) -
The orange hairball came waddling forward on four stumpy legs.
Fiction book (2001) -
Tuesday began with the humble sound of Elyria's cat hacking up hairballs on the foot of my bed.
Fiction book (1995) -
My cat, Catherine, who vomits up hairballs only on throw rugs and never on the easy-to-clean hardwood floors,
Blog text (12) -
He noticed a hairball in the corner of the room, a reminder of his cat's relentless grooming habits.
Synonyms
1
4.0
A ball of hair that a cat coughs up
A hard ball of swallowed hair in the stomach or intestines
Compounds
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Hairball comes from the two simple words hair and ball and gives a clear picture: it means a 'round mass' of hair that builds up in an animal's stomach when it licks its fur. That's why a hairball is the small ball of fur a cat may cough up.