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Knuckleball

noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A pitch thrown with the ball gripped on the fingertips and released with no rotation, which travels over an unpredictable path to the plate due to micro-turbulence in the air.

    "Even the pitcher doesn't know where his knuckleball is going."

  2. 2
    a baseball pitch thrown with little speed or spin wordnet
  3. 3
    A type of delivery where a fast bowler holds the ball on the knuckles of the index and middle fingers.
  4. 4
    An event that is hard to predict. figuratively, informal

    "Our vendor keeps throwing us knuckleballs."

Verb
  1. 1
    To pitch knuckleballs. intransitive

    "Varitek did not start so Kevin Cash could catch the knuckleballing starter Tim Wakefield."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From knuckle + ball.

Etymology 2

From knuckle + ball.

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