curveball

or curve ball

[ kurv-bawl ]

/ ˈkɜrvˌbɔl /

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See synonyms for curveball on Thesaurus.com

noun Baseball.

a pitch with a downward spin that causes the ball to drop and veer as it approaches home plate, away from the side from which it was thrown: He started perfecting his curveball during his junior year in high school.

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Origin of curveball

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Words nearby curveball

curvature hyperopia, curvature myopia, curvature of field, curvature of space, curve, curveball, curve fitting, curve of occlusion, curvet, curvette, curvilinear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use curveball in a sentence

One of the kids had a ball in his hand, and Cuomo took it and tossed it back and forth to an eight year old.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Instead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball gets in the hole, the screen shifts to reveal the next hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

When the game starts, there is only sand, a white ball, a flag indicating hole 1, and a “0” at the top of the screen.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
A view of the duchess's ball-room, or of the dining-table of the earl, will supersede all occasion for lengthy fiddle-faddle.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
He had not the least idea what wadding was, and his notion of a bullet was a dockyard cannon-ball bigger than his own head.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
On the night of June the 11th a red-hot cannon-ball set fire to one of the barracks which was used as a hospital.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
He drew her back to him, and she yielded and settled closely in the curve of his arm, and he told her the story.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux

British Dictionary definitions for curveball

curve ball

noun

baseball a ball pitched in a curving path so as to make it more difficult to hit

informal something deceptivehis wholesome image was a curve ball thrown to deceive the public

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