stress ball

American  

[stres bawl] / ˈstrɛs ˌbɔl /

noun

1. a small, pliable, typically round object that is squeezed with the hand to relieve muscle tension or improve grip strength.

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stress ball British  

noun

1. a small rubber ball squeezed in the hand as a means of relieving stress

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Etymology

Origin of stress ball

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

One day, her complaint said, another employee grabbed her stress ball and refused to give it back to her.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2025

Some children also benefit from a physical outlet for their anger, like ripping paper or squeezing a stress ball -- which more parents of boys encouraged than parent of girls.

From Science Daily • Nov. 18, 2024

Beth draws and uses a stress ball as she listens.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2024

“I was a stress ball without family obligations and all that. I needed to have tennis, and now I need to have family and business. I wouldn’t have been able to intertwine all of them.”

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2021

Next to them, Tommy and Sebastian were still balling up paper, although now they were using it like a stress ball and seeing which hand could squeeze it tighter.

From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin