Word Study
spitball
CIDE DICTIONARY
spitball, n.
- Paper chewed, and rolled into a ball, to be thrown as a missile; -- a childish prank. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
spitball, n. & v.
--n. US 1 a ball of chewed paper etc. used as a missile.
2 a baseball moistened by the pitcher to impart spin.
--v.intr. throw out suggestions for discussion.
--n. US 1 a ball of chewed paper etc. used as a missile.
2 a baseball moistened by the pitcher to impart spin.
--v.intr. throw out suggestions for discussion.
Derivative
spitballer n.
THESAURUS
spitball
bowl, cast, change of pace, change-up, chuck, chunk, curve, downcurve, fastball, fling, flip, forward pass, heave, hurl, incurve, knuckleball, lateral, lateral pass, lob, outcurve, pass, peg, pitch, put, screwball, serve, service, shot-put, shy, sinker, slider, sling, spitter, throw, toss, upcurveFor further exploring for "spitball" in Webster Dictionary Online