"spitball" meaning in English

See spitball in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: spitballs [plural]
Etymology: spit + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|spit|ball}} spit + ball Head templates: {{en-noun}} spitball (plural spitballs)
  1. (baseball) A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels. Categories (topical): Baseball
    Sense id: en-spitball-en-noun-1RBtipiw Topics: ball-games, baseball, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports
  2. A balled-up piece of paper, moistened with saliva (by chewing) and shot through a drinking straw.
    Sense id: en-spitball-en-noun-mvrjWCOy Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 22 34 18 26

Verb

Forms: spitballs [present, singular, third-person], spitballing [participle, present], spitballed [participle, past], spitballed [past]
Etymology: spit + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|en|spit|ball}} spit + ball Head templates: {{en-verb}} spitball (third-person singular simple present spitballs, present participle spitballing, simple past and past participle spitballed)
  1. (baseball) To moisten the ball with saliva before pitching it. Categories (topical): Baseball
    Sense id: en-spitball-en-verb-s0J-BUcF Topics: ball-games, baseball, games, hobbies, lifestyle, sports
  2. To brainstorm ideas.
    Sense id: en-spitball-en-verb-Js-klQ3X
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: spitballer

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for spitball meaning in English (3.2kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "spit + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "spit + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitball (plural spitballs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Baseball",
          "orig": "en:Baseball",
          "parents": [
            "Ball games",
            "Sports",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels."
      ],
      "id": "en-spitball-en-noun-1RBtipiw",
      "links": [
        [
          "baseball",
          "baseball"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball) A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "22 34 18 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A balled-up piece of paper, moistened with saliva (by chewing) and shot through a drinking straw."
      ],
      "id": "en-spitball-en-noun-mvrjWCOy",
      "links": [
        [
          "paper",
          "paper"
        ],
        [
          "shot",
          "shot"
        ],
        [
          "straw",
          "straw"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitball"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "spitballer"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "spit + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "spit + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitballs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitball (third-person singular simple present spitballs, present participle spitballing, simple past and past participle spitballed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Baseball",
          "orig": "en:Baseball",
          "parents": [
            "Ball games",
            "Sports",
            "Human activity",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To moisten the ball with saliva before pitching it."
      ],
      "id": "en-spitball-en-verb-s0J-BUcF",
      "links": [
        [
          "baseball",
          "baseball"
        ],
        [
          "moisten",
          "moisten"
        ],
        [
          "saliva",
          "saliva"
        ],
        [
          "pitch",
          "pitch"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball) To moisten the ball with saliva before pitching it."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1950s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, A Few Good Men (film)",
          "text": "Maybe, and I'm just spitballing here, maybe, we have a responsibility as officers to train Santiago."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Role Models, 01:09:07",
          "roman": "- Question. Maybe a stupid one, but I'm just spitballing here.",
          "text": "- Yes, Wheeler?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To brainstorm ideas."
      ],
      "id": "en-spitball-en-verb-Js-klQ3X",
      "links": [
        [
          "brainstorm",
          "brainstorm"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitball"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "spit + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "spit + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitball (plural spitballs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Baseball"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "baseball",
          "baseball"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball) A pitch of a baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A balled-up piece of paper, moistened with saliva (by chewing) and shot through a drinking straw."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "paper",
          "paper"
        ],
        [
          "shot",
          "shot"
        ],
        [
          "straw",
          "straw"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitball"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "spitballer"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spit",
        "3": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "spit + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "spit + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spitballs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spitballed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spitball (third-person singular simple present spitballs, present participle spitballing, simple past and past participle spitballed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Baseball"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To moisten the ball with saliva before pitching it."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "baseball",
          "baseball"
        ],
        [
          "moisten",
          "moisten"
        ],
        [
          "saliva",
          "saliva"
        ],
        [
          "pitch",
          "pitch"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(baseball) To moisten the ball with saliva before pitching it."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "ball-games",
        "baseball",
        "games",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "sports"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1950s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, A Few Good Men (film)",
          "text": "Maybe, and I'm just spitballing here, maybe, we have a responsibility as officers to train Santiago."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Role Models, 01:09:07",
          "roman": "- Question. Maybe a stupid one, but I'm just spitballing here.",
          "text": "- Yes, Wheeler?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To brainstorm ideas."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "brainstorm",
          "brainstorm"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spitball"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.