pinball

American  

[pin-bawl] / ˈpɪnˌbɔl /

noun

pinballs plural

1. 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.

---

pinball British  

/ ˈpɪnˌbɔːl /

noun

1. 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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pinballs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pinball

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; pin + ball ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pinball pinballs

I would like for there to be activities or games such as scavenger hunts, escape rooms, billiards, pinball, karaoke, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey — you name it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026

For him, pinball games unlock memories, much as the madeleine did for Proust.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Mr. Bernard offers colorful descriptions of various classic pinball machines—such as Monaco, Gorgar and Harlem Globetrotters—and explains some of the jargon surrounding them: outlanes, drop targets, nudges and tilts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Los Angeles is a sprawling, high-energy city where you can sleep, eat, and play without ever getting in a car — or pinball across neighborhoods chasing something new at every stop.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2026

Joe tapped his fingers on the pinball machine.

From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon

Elliot Daly, the only back with north of 50 caps, pinballs back to the 11 shirt from full-back.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025

And so when you think or hear something, you don't think, next on a timeline ... it shoots you off, it pinballs you back to this time.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2023

Some machines are gambling devices that use pinballs to create random games of chance, like a slot machine, adding to the confusion.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023

The swashbuckling-themed bar with a ship hull has pinballs and pull-tabs and, behind the bar, slushies, cocktails and beers all served on tap.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2022

And then Abby nudges me again later to pick up a pen she dropped, and it’s pinballs all over again.

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli