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definitions

pinball

[ pin-bawl ]
/ ˈpɪnˌbɔl /
|

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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Nearby words

  1. pinard's maneuver,
  2. pinaster,
  3. pinata,
  4. pinatubo,
  5. pinatubo, mount,
  6. pinball machine,
  7. pinballer,
  8. pinbone,
  9. pince-nez,
  10. pincement

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for pin-ball

  • 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

  • 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
British Dictionary definitions for pin-ball

pinball

/ (ˈpɪnˌbɔːl) /

noun

  1. a game in which the player shoots a small ball through several hazards on a table, electrically operated machine, etc
  2. (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
Word Origin and History for pin-ball
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper