stress ball

noun

: a small ball or other object made of soft material (such as rubber) that one can squeeze with the hand to relieve stress and that usually resumes its original shape when released

In one study, sixth-graders who used stress balls were less distracted in class. The toys could also be more helpful for some people than others; in that study, students who were kinesthetic learners tended to use the stress balls more, and get more of an attention benefit from them.

—Julie Beck

The idea for using a stress ball is to transfer your stress, tension and anxiety into the ball by squeezing it as best you can, and then release. The ball's job is to absorb it all! Unlike paper that you wad up tightly in your hand, the ball quickly returns to its original shape when the pressure is released.

—Kim Harris

Finally, it was time to meet the one who instigated this comparison. The day McDonald's was delivered, we received a package with score cards, a stress ball in the shape of a burger and the laminated photo you see next to the meal.

—Anne Marie Panoringan

Examples of stress ball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For example, devices such as stress balls and fidget toys can often provide more socially acceptable options. —Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 17 Apr. 2025

This two-pack of stress balls from Amazon have entertaining motivational sayings on them and are an affordable way to help your stress. —Christopher Murray, Fox News, 8 Mar. 2025

By the end of Trump’s first month in office, universities had been squeezed, like stress balls, into new and painful forms. —Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Ralph Fiennes stars as a cardinal in desperate need of a stress ball as the man running the conclave after the pontiff's sudden death, and his crisis of faith takes a back seat to all the candidates of different political and social stripes gunning to run the church. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025

Try the delay-and-distract technique: Wait 10 minutes when a craving hits, and keep your hands busy with a stress ball or puzzle.17 Whenever possible, avoid situations that trigger your urge to smoke. —Sanja Jelic, Health, 2 Jan. 2025

The baguette attachment is actually a tiny stress ball. —Sara Coughlin, SELF, 26 Nov. 2024

Adorable Riley is now 13, which means Anxiety (Maya Hawke) has made her way to Headquarters, usurping Joy’s (Amy Poehler) authority and turning this precocious teen into a self-conscious stress ball desperate to be liked. —Will Leitch, Vulture, 14 June 2024

Two of the smoke shops were also selling another, perhaps even more innovative product: a vape with a soft silicon exterior that can be squeezed like a stress ball, dubbed the TopShine Squeeze 10000. —Louise Matsakis, WIRED, 25 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stress ball

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