Slang dictionary
8 ball
or 8-ball or eight-ball or eight ball or eightball [ehyt bawl]
What does 8 ball mean?
An 8 ball is one eighth of an ounce of a drug (usually cocaine). It can also refer to a mix of crack-cocaine and heroin as well as the malt-liquor brand Olde English 800. Sometimes, it can act as a derogatory term for a black person.
Where does 8 ball come from?
Examples of 8 ball
Who uses 8 ball?
8 ball as an amount of drugs is most often used by drug dealers and law enforcement and has been since the 1980s. It has also made its way into popular culture via rap. It can also be used on social media for comedic effect or dramatization.
Several references to 8 ball as in malt liquor appeared in songs by NWA in the mid 1980s, but other rappers, including Snoop Dogg and Afroman, have used the term since.
Green’s Dictionary of Slang records several other, though less common, slang uses of eight ball: a derogatory term for a black person (1919, on account of the pool ball’s color), a turd (1997, because of color and shape), and a group of prisoners serving eight-year sentences (2000).
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 8 ball like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 8 ball that will help our users expand their word mastery.