noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Chewing gum sold as a ball usually coated with colored hard sugar.

   "Remember those clear globe dispensers with gumballs for a penny?"

2. 2
   A silly, laughable person. slang

   "When he drinks too much he's a gumball."

3. 3
   The flashing lights on top of a police car. US, slang
4. 4
   The spiky seedpod of the sweet gum tree.

Synonyms

All synonyms

bommy knockergoofballmonkey ball

Example

More examples

"Tom put a quarter into the gumball machine."

Etymology

From gum + ball.

Related phrases

gumball machine

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.