dumbbell

[ duhm-bel ]
See synonyms for dumbbell on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a gymnastic apparatus consisting of two wooden or metal balls connected by a short bar serving as a handle, used as a weight for exercising.

  2. a stupid person.

Origin of dumbbell

1
First recorded in 1705–15; dumb + bell1

Other words for dumbbell

Words Nearby dumbbell

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dumbbell in a sentence

  • In the first place, they were pulling six gees by using a primitive dumbbell configuration.

    Greylorn | John Keith Laumer
  • It was the shape of a dumbbell—two spheres joined together by a short middle bar.

    The Secret of the Ninth Planet | Donald Allen Wollheim
  • And hanging on patrol over this polar basin were two more of the dumbbell ships.

    The Secret of the Ninth Planet | Donald Allen Wollheim
  • Above it, they caught a flicker from the forest of masts and the glint from a dumbbell ship.

    The Secret of the Ninth Planet | Donald Allen Wollheim
  • Of unusual shape, both round and flat, so a cross-section looks like a dumbbell with angular ends.

    The Complete Book of Cheese | Robert Carlton Brown

British Dictionary definitions for dumbbell

dumbbell

/ (ˈdʌmˌbɛl) /


noun
  1. gymnastics weightlifting an exercising weight consisting of a single bar with a heavy ball or disc at either end

  2. a small wooden object shaped like this used in dog training for the dog to retrieve

  1. slang, mainly US and Canadian a fool

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012