meatball

English

Etymology

From meat +‎ ball.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Noun

meatball (plural meatballs)

  1. A ball of minced or ground meat, seasoned and cooked.
    • 1894, Yearbook of Agriculture:
      Meatballs may contain ground meat mixed with seasonings, breadcrumbs, mashed potatoes, rice, and liquid. The meat mixture is often shaped, browned. and simmered in a sauce for 30 to 45 minutes over low heat or in a 350° F. oven. During cooking the meat is basted with the sauce occasionally. Meatballs also may be fried in a pan or in deep fat.
    • 1996: Mrs. Miracle. Debbie Macomber. Pg. 101.
      I prefer spaghetti with meatballs instead the meat all crumbled in with the sauce.
  2. (slang) A stupid person; a meathead.
  3. (baseball) An easy pitch to hit, especially thrown right down the middle of the plate.
    • 2020, Alex Hall, “Oakland A’s faced all their nightmares in Game 3 and wrote a new ending”, in Athletics Nation:
      And then. A 98.4 fastball on the inside half of the plate, ring him up, Strike 3, game over. It wasn’t a meatball like Terrence Long watched to finish 2003 ALDS Game 5, but it felt the same.
  4. (aviation) An optical landing system.
    • 1961, Approach, volume 7:
      During a pitching deck recovery a pilot must average out the meatball oscillations at the ramp in an attempt to maintain his airplane on the desired glide slope.
  5. (graphical user interface) A menu icon of three horizontal dots.
    Coordinate terms: kebab, hamburger, bento
  6. (motor racing) Ellipsis of meatball flag.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Japanese: ミートボール
  • → Korean: 미트볼 (miteubol)

Translations

See also

Further reading

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