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hairball

American

[hair-bawl] / ˈhɛərˌbɔl /

noun

a ball of hair accumulated in the stomach or intestines of a cat or other animal as a result of the animal's licking its coat.

hairball British

/ ˈhɛəˌbɔːl /

noun

a compact mass of hair that forms in the stomach of cats, calves, etc, as a result of licking and swallowing the fur, and causes vomiting, coughing, bloat, weight loss, and depression

"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 hairball

First recorded in 1705–15; hair + 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.

See Examples For:

hairball

Munch, a friendly, purple-ish hairball of a creature, was once the anchor of Chuck E. Cheese’s Make Believe Band.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

The collection includes George Washington’s death announcement, a mummified cat and even a giant hairball.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

We all want a season that's more ho-ho-ho than hairball.

From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2022

Introduced by Sega at the start of the 1990s, the zippy blue hairball Sonic the Hedgehog is now officially over the hill and picking up speed onscreen.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2022

“If the hairball thinks it’s his duty to learn eleven hundred names, who are we to burst his bubble by telling him he doesn’t have to?”

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023