knuckleball

or knuck·le ball

[ nuhk-uhl-bawl ]

nounBaseball.
  1. a junk pitch that moves erratically toward home plate, usually delivered by holding the ball between the thumb and the knuckles of the first joints of the first two or three fingers: Trying to hit his knuckleball was like swatting at a fly with a straw.

Origin of knuckleball

1
An Americanism dating back to 1905–10
  • Also called knuck·ler [nuhk-ler]. /ˈnʌk lər/.

Words Nearby knuckleball

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use knuckleball in a sentence