Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A piece of paper chewed and shaped into a lump for use as a projectile.
- noun Baseball An illegal pitch in which a foreign substance, such as saliva, is applied to the ball before it is thrown.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Paper chewed and made into a ball to be used as a missile.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Paper chewed, and rolled into a ball, to be thrown as a missile; -- a childish prank.
- noun (Baseball), Cant A pitched ball in throwing which the pitcher grips the ball between two, or three, fingers on one side (which is made slippery, as by saliva) and the thumb on the other side, and delivers it so that it slips off the fingers with the least possible friction; -- also called
spitter . When pitched directly overhand a spit ball darts downward, when pitched with the arm extended sidewise it darts down and out. The use of such a pitch is against the rules of professional baseball.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun baseball A pitch of a
baseball that has been partly covered with saliva, illegal at most levels. - noun A balled up piece of
paper , moistened with saliva (by chewing) andshot through a drinkingstraw . - verb To
brainstorm ideas.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a projectile made by chewing a piece of paper and shaping it into a sphere
- noun an illegal pitch in which a foreign substance (spit or Vaseline) is applied to the ball by the pitcher before he throws it
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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#123 – “You would have better luck hitting the moon with a spitball from the top of Everest than you would have getting any large number of gay men to practice celibacy.”
Think Progress » New Bush Policy: All Gays Should Be Celibate 2006
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You would have better luck hitting the moon with a spitball from the top of Everest than you would have getting any large number of gay men to practice celibacy.
Think Progress » New Bush Policy: All Gays Should Be Celibate 2006
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Quote from that source: “Buffington, of Boston was known for his drop ball, which in later years they called a spitball.”
The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004
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Quote from that source: “Buffington, of Boston was known for his drop ball, which in later years they called a spitball.”
The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004
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Quote from that source: “Buffington, of Boston was known for his drop ball, which in later years they called a spitball.”
The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004
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“The filibuster has been abused,” he said, adding that “the Republicans have abused that just like the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball.”
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“The filibuster has been abused,” he said, adding that “the Republicans have abused that just like the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball.”
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Enough could let your round stop still in the barrel, most likely it would "spitball" out.
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Enough could let your round stop still in the barrel, most likely it would "spitball" out.
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It would depend on which side of the "spitball" issue Barr comes down on.
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