Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

meatball

American  
[meet-bawl] / ˈmitˌbɔl /

noun

  1. Cooking. a small ball of ground meat, especially beef, often mixed with breadcrumbs, seasonings, etc., before cooking.

  2. Slang. an awkward, clumsy, or ineffectual person.

meatball British  
/ ˈmiːtˌbɔːl /

noun

  1. minced beef, shaped into a ball before cooking

  2. slang a stupid or boring person

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of meatball

First recorded in 1830–40; meat + ball 1

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.