eight ball
Britishnoun
-
(in pool) the black ball, marked with the number eight
-
in a difficult situation; snookered
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.
But in a four-run, four-inning start, Gonsolin was derailed by his own physical issue, battling a bloody thumb in a three-run first inning that put the Dodgers behind the eight ball.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2025
A day never passed without me fully aware that we now lived our lives squarely behind the eight ball.
From Salon • May 11, 2025
How can I make sure our financial future isn’t a magic eight ball?
From Slate • Aug. 26, 2023
“We didn’t want to put our players behind the eight ball because we only start the season with eight or nine when we didn’t have to.”
From Seattle Times • May 17, 2022
We were a proud pair, dropping by the pool hall, playing a quick game of eight ball, and then, as the sky darkened, swaggering down the sidewalk.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
