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

And just when fans were gearing up for the Ryder Cup, the weather threw a curveball, even before the first tee shot was struck. —Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025

Venus triggering Uranus throws monetary curveballs your way. —Usa Today, USA Today, 20 Sep. 2025

The lefty with a Cooperstown curveball will eventually own a Cooperstown plaque due in part to his legacy of dominance against San Francisco. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 20 Sep. 2025

Yamamoto needed eight pitches to retire the first two batters of the game and 17 pitches to notch the final out of the first inning, San Francisco drawing two walks before Bryce Eldridge swung through a 75 mph curveball for strike three. —Mike Digiovanna, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025

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
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol