speedball

1 of 3

noun (1)

speed·​ball ˈspēd-ˌbȯl 

1

slang : a dose of cocaine mixed with heroin or morphine or an amphetamine and usually taken by injection

2

: a game which resembles soccer but in which a ball caught in the air may be passed with the hands and in which a score is made by kicking or heading the ball between the goalposts or by a successful forward pass over the goal line

3

: one that is outstandingly fast

speedball

2 of 3

verb

speedballed; speedballing; speedballs

intransitive verb

slang

: to take a speedball especially by injection

speed ball

3 of 3

noun (2)

less common variant of speed bag

: a small usually teardrop-shaped punching bag (see punching bag sense 1) used especially for developing speed, coordination, and timing

… counts out loud each punch she hurls at the speed bag in front of her, keeping her eyes trained on the moving target as it whips back at her face. Before it can hit her, she throws another punch with her alternate hand. She repeats the pattern for 45 seconds, her rhythmic punches creating a drum-like cadence.

—Jackie Roman

Speed bags perfect your timing and speed.

—Kevan W. Matthews

… the rhythmic cadence coming from a lone boxer working a speedbag.

—Tom Archdeacon

… he hooked his tattered speed ball to a metal post and hit it with rapid-fire jabs that echoed throughout the athletic complex.

—Alan Citron

compare heavy bag

Examples of speedball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That Derby was won by War Emblem, a small-boned speedball who stole the race on the front end after having been sold by his geriatric owner to Saudi Arabian Prince Ahmed bin Salman for $900,000 three weeks before. — NBC news, 29 Apr. 2026

Kratom is sometimes also called biak or biak-biak, herbal speedball, kakuam, ketum, thang or thom. — Gary Kirkilas Ii, Boston Herald, 1 Feb. 2026

That sequence also introduces a placidly smiley Kylie Jenner playing herself on seemingly a Valium-Adderall speedball of deluded bounciness. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026

For years, the identity of the mysterious speedball pitcher was the source of much rumor and speculation in New Jersey, and throughout the Springsteen fan community. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025

The fatal speedball shot was given to Belushi by drug dealer Cathy Smith who was later arrested and convicted of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the comedian’s untimely death after being extradited from Canada. — Colin Scanlon, Redbook, 6 July 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1905, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1970, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for speedball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale