spitball

1 of 2

noun

spit·​ball ˈspit-ˌbȯl 

1

: paper chewed and rolled into a ball to be thrown or shot as a missile

2

: a baseball pitch delivered after the ball has been moistened with saliva or sweat

spitball

2 of 2

verb

spitballed; spitballing

transitive + intransitive

informal

: to propose (ideas, suggestions, etc.) for consideration in an informal, preliminary way

Writers spitballed story ideas; editors dreamed up coverage ….

—Nick Summers

He has his finger on every facet of the concert presentation, using rehearsals to tweak the visuals and spitball new ideas.

—Marshall Fine

Linklater, Coltrane, and Hawke had started spitballing dialogue a year earlier, though they'd begun anticipating the scene years before that.

—Nathan Heller

… it's probably a little late for Vance Joseph and his coaching staff to be spitballing on what kind of team they want the Broncos to be.

—Mark Kiszla

Examples of spitball in a Sentence

Noun

The kids were shooting spitballs at each other.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

His signature pitch was a spitball, the preferred offering of the era. —Tommy Birch, USA TODAY, 10 Aug. 2022

Having to indulge every amateur suggestion in a spitballing session can feel as offensive as if the spitballs were literal. —Karla L. Miller, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Feb. 2023

Verb

At a certain point, HBO suggested to bring someone just to spitball the final draft of the series. —Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2024

Campaign aides began to spitball. —New York Times, 11 Feb. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1950, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

spitball

noun

spit·​ball ˈspit-ˌbȯl 

1

: paper chewed and rolled into a ball to be thrown or shot at someone or something

2

: a baseball pitch thrown after the ball has been moistened with spit or sweat