paintball
Americannoun
-
paintballs
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of paintball
Explanation
Paintball is a game in which players shoot harmless pellets full of colored dye at each other. Some people play paintball in teams, mimicking a military-style battle. During a paintball game, players use paintball markers, also known as paintball guns, to shoot capsules of paint at each other. Most people play for fun, although there are also official paintball leagues and teams, complete with organized tournaments. The US military has even used paintball as a way for soldiers to train for battle. The game of paintball was invented in 1981, and the first matches were played in New Hampshire.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Omar al-Bayoumi and Anwar al-Awlaki were involved in paintball sessions in San Diego for at least three years in the late 1990s and very early 2000s.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Saudi Arabia has stated that the paintball video does not reveal who "made" or "took" it.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
“The amount of women and men in their 50s and 60s that go nuts over paintball is unbelievable.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 10, 2025
From a small office on Bryant’s property, the organization’s 24-hour hotline was ringing, and volunteers were rushing out with paintball guns to haze bears and to advise people on how to bear-proof their houses.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
He was the paintball champion of Wake County and had a cousin in the Marines he wanted to fix up with Carol Lee.
From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor
Rangers reportedly found three slingshots, a paintball marker, paintballs and other evidence inside their vehicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2024
Wolves in parts of the Netherlands can be shot with paintballs in a bid to make them less tame, authorities say.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2022
She was largely unfazed by rubber bullets, paintballs and noisemaking devices and had been captured and relocated twice in recent years because of similar conflicts, the zoo said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
The football players "shot thousands of paintballs" and had fun, according to the owner.
From Fox News ● Aug. 31, 2021
I stare across the Pit, where some Dauntless children chase each other up the path, hurling paintballs at the walls.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
