hairball

American  

[hair-bawl] / ˈhɛərˌbɔl /

noun

1. 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.

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hairball British  

/ ˈhɛəˌbɔːl /

noun

1. 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

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Etymology

Origin of hairball

First recorded in 1705–15; hair + ball ¹

Example Sentences

I woke up in the middle of the night — in that middle part between sleep and awake — to what sounded like a cat coughing up a hairball.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2024

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

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2023

But the cough could have been caused by something as simple as a hairball, he said, and the keepers were unsure what it meant.

From Washington Post • Oct. 8, 2021

A tiger, a miniature Italian man, a girl with gigantism, a fish with legs, a pink hairball and a redheaded half-reptile walk into Manhattan.

From New York Times • Apr. 16, 2021

The next-door neighbor’s cat coughed up a hairball one day and the hair was not the cat’s.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides