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butterball

American  
[buht-er-bawl] / ˈbʌt ərˌbɔl /

noun

  1. Northeastern U.S. the bufflehead.

  2. Informal. a chubby person.

  3. an individual serving of butter shaped into a small sphere.

butterball British  
/ ˈbʌtəˌbɔːl /

noun

  1. another name for bufflehead

  2. informal a chubby or fat person

"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

Etymology

Origin of butterball

First recorded in 1930–35; butter + ball 1

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.

Now, scientists, park rangers and others are out to catch the wild butterball.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2022

“As soon as these cats get a little bit acclimated at Big Cat Rescue they’ll be enjoying and receiving their own butterball turkey for Thanksgiving and they’ll be getting their own Christmas treat,” Bass said.

From Washington Times • Nov. 29, 2019

And he’s like a little chubby butterball, but he has fun, and he’s cute.

From Time • Jul. 22, 2015

Sam Marlowe writes that the original numbers "roll flavourlessly by until they merge into a single-click butterball of inconsequentiality".

From The Guardian • Jun. 26, 2013

It was just as fat as a butterball, and laughing, eyes blue, blue, blue.”

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

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.