speedball

[speed-bawl]

noun

1. a game similar to soccer with the chief difference that a player catching the ball on the fly can pass it with the hands.

2. Slang.,  any combination of a stimulant and a depressant taken together, especially a mixture of heroin and cocaine or heroin and methamphetamine injected into the bloodstream.

verb (used without object)

1. Slang.,  to take a speedball, especially by injection.

speedball

/ ˈspiːdˌbɔːl /

noun

1. slang,  a mixture of heroin with amphetamine or cocaine

Word History and Origins

Origin of speedball¹

First recorded in 1940–45; speed + ball ¹

Example Sentences

Blink-182 were powering through one pop-punk burner after another, a virtually sold-out Climate Pledge Arena crowd hanging on every cymbal crash and speedball harmony.

Read more on Seattle Times

Use the Speedball Lino, U nib for everything in between the outline.

Read more on Seattle Times

Then carve the outline with the Speedball Lino, V nib.

Read more on Seattle Times

The combination of an opiate with a stimulant — commonly called a “speedball” — has become increasingly popular, said Daniel Ciccarone, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco who studies drugs.

Read more on Washington Post

All the scene needed was Bruce Springsteen playing in the back, “I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school. He could throw that speedball by you, make you look like a fool.”

Read more on Seattle Times

Related Words

• abrupt 
• expeditious 
• hasty 
• nimble 
• quick 
• rapid 
• speedy 
• sudden 
• unexpected