wrecking ball

noun

: a heavy iron or steel ball swung or dropped by a derrick to demolish old buildings

called also wrecker's ball

Examples of wrecking ball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Building career insurance before the wrecking ball satisfies A 60-year-old former mortgage operations executive and army intelligence vet, Shelli Spence saw industry meltdowns coming. —Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026

Picture a swinging wrecking ball — frozen in midair. —Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 19 Jan. 2026

Wembley, Old Trafford, the Emirates Stadium; at various points over the past few years, Newcastle have taken a wrecking ball to long decades of self-abasement, but overturning a substantive lead at the Etihad Stadium will require another level of achievement. —George Caulkin, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026

The industry responded with more than $450 million to influence the 2024 elections, and the federal government, in turn, went after clean energy with a wrecking ball in 2025 — a shortsighted move that spells trouble for electricity bills, clean air, and America’s technological competitiveness. —Anshul Gupta, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wrecking ball

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