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

In one month, based on this spitball conjecture, that could be $12 billion in fines. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025

Second on the list is Chick Fraser (219), who Honus Wagner once accused of inventing the spitball. —Daniel Brown, The Athletic, 29 Aug. 2024

Verb

Shift your mindset from commands to conversations and try using AI to spitball new ideas for that next big project. —Alex Fitzpatrick, Axios, 9 Mar. 2025

The experience has sparked conversations about conservation, and the group sometimes spitballs potential solutions. —Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 2 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1846, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1950, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for spitball

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

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