curveball

noun

curve·​ball ˈkərv-ˌbȯl 

: a slow or moderately fast baseball pitch thrown with spin to make it swerve downward and usually to the left when thrown from the right hand or to the right when thrown from the left hand

curveball verb

Examples of curveball in a Sentence

The batter struck out on a curveball.

Recent Examples on the Web

That tension makes Michigan the curveball that Republicans needed. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 6 Aug. 2026

His heater is really his only weapon, however, because his upper-80s splitter and low-80s curveball rate as fringy and his upper-80s cutter grades as below average. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 3 Aug. 2026

But the antitrust curveball leveled two weeks ago by a dozen state AGs—repping the world’s fourth-largest economic powerhouse, California’s Rob Bonta is leading the charge—would appear to have put any near-term talks between the NFL and CBS on hold. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 31 July 2026

She will be joined by Japanese legend Ayami Sato, considered the greatest women’s baseball player in the world, with nearly 80 mph pitches and a curveball that spins faster than most MLB pitchers. — Kendra Nordin Beato, Christian Science Monitor, 31 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing curveball

• throw (someone) a curve/curveball

Rhymes for curveball

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol
• gossypol