pinball machine
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pinball machine
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
He compared trying to find a path between bins and cars as being "like a pinball machine".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Since then there has been a minor resurgence via boutique independent manufacturers, but one seldom sees a pinball machine in everyday spaces anymore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
The Fed slowed QT because the standing repo facility, their emergency lending window, started lighting up like a pinball machine.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
It’s as if we’re inside a pinball machine, with tiny objects orbiting around one another maniacally, wheels spinning, helmets twisting, boards whizzing by or flying into the air before crashing back down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
They’re just the usual Shady Creek rich: three floors and flat-screen TVs and a pinball machine in the basement.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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.
