pinball machine
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pinball machine
First recorded in 1935–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Fed slowed QT because the standing repo facility, their emergency lending window, started lighting up like a pinball machine.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
It’s as if we’re inside a pinball machine, with tiny objects orbiting around one another maniacally, wheels spinning, helmets twisting, boards whizzing by or flying into the air before crashing back down.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2025
Because particles have a charge, their flight path resembles a ball in a pinball machine as they zigzag against the electromagnetic fields through the cosmic microwave background.
From Science Daily • Nov. 23, 2023
For many, laying a hand on a pinball machine marked the first time we touched a piece of electronic entertainment tech in public.
From Salon • Jun. 18, 2023
They jumped off the bench, ran to the pinball machine, and pushed each other, trying to pull on the handle.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
