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curveball

American  
[kurv-bawl] / ˈkɜrvˌbɔl /
Or curve ball

noun

Baseball.

  1. a pitch with a downward spin that causes the ball to drop and veer as it approaches home plate, away from the side from which it was thrown.

    He started perfecting his curveball during his junior year in high school.

Etymology

Origin of curveball

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here’s what you’ve already missed, what’s still on the table—and some curveball alternatives.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

However, the developer threw a Ye-style curveball of his own in 2025, when he opted to list the partially completed home for $39 million, eventually reducing that price to $34.9 million.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 3, 2026

We'll sometimes throw each other a curveball with a pick choice but it never gets heated or anything like that.

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025

The club’s director of pitching, Rob Hill, was immediately struck by his high-riding heater and mid-80s mph curveball when he first saw Klein pitch in minor-league back-field games during spring training in 2021 and 2022.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2025

The Mud Hens had a roster slot, and the scout had a notion to fill it with the pitcher with the wicked curveball, name of Earl Grayson.

From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.