pinball

[ pin-bawl ]

/ ˈpɪnˌbɔl /

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noun

any of various games played on a sloping, glass-topped table presenting a field of colorful, knoblike target pins and rails, the object usually being to shoot a ball, driven by a spring, up a side passage and cause it to roll back down against these projections and through channels, which electrically flash or ring and record the score.

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THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of pinball

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; pin + ball¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pinball in a sentence

Girra was a powerful figure in the metropolitan pin-ball game syndicate and had a piece of the number policy racket too.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
It was as natural for her to want to flirt with every man she saw, as for a kitten to scamper after a pin-ball.
The Pearl of Orr's Island|Harriet Beecher Stowe
The little lady watches every motion as comically as a kitten watches a pin-ball.
The May Flower, and Miscellaneous Writings|Harriet Beecher Stowe
Aunt Louise made a nice little dressing-case of bronze kid, lined with silk, and Grace made a pretty pen-wiper and pin-ball.
Captain Horace|Sophie May

He read a newspaper and fed a dollar and a half into a pin-ball machine.
Ghost Beyond the Gate|Mildred A. Wirt

British Dictionary definitions for pinball

pinball

/ (ˈpɪnˌbɔːl) /

noun

a game in which the player shoots a small ball through several hazards on a table, electrically operated machine, etc
(as modifier)a pinball machine

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