knuckleball
noun
knuck·le·ball
| \ ˈnə-kəl-ˌbȯl
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Definition of knuckleball
: a slow baseball pitch that moves erratically and unpredictably and that is thrown with little spin by gripping the ball with the knuckles or the tips of the fingers pressed against the top
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Other Words from knuckleball
knuckleballer
\ ˈnə-kəl-ˌbȯ-lər
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noun
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noun
Examples of knuckleball in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bouton used that knuckleball in 1969 with the expansion Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros. — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, "Jim Bouton Opened Up the Major Leagues to Everyone," 11 July 2019 Kern lists his pitches as a two-seam and four-seam fastball plus a knuckleball. — Robert Avery, Houston Chronicle, "Never-say-die Bayside 11s overcome first-night Section 3 loss to clinch trip to state championship," 10 July 2019 Smith and Sakib also studied the aerodynamics of knuckleballs with their apparatus and found that the flow will separate near the back of the ball any time the seam is located there mid-flight. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Physics can explain the fastball’s unexpected twist, new study finds," 23 Nov. 2018 His first strikeout of the inning was on a knuckleball. — Bobby Nightengale, Cincinnati.com, "Tyler Mahle roughed up, Cincinnati Reds crushed in 19-4 loss to Cleveland Indians," 11 July 2018 That blast came off a knuckleball from the Braves' Phil Niekro on the first homestand of the 1970 season. — Matt Young, Houston Chronicle, "Look back at Jimmy Wynn's Astros' career on anniversary of his big league debut," 10 July 2018 Boston, left-handed all the way, passed up a scholarship to Oklahoma State to sign with Chicago and reached the majors with the White Sox in 1984, singling off Texas knuckleball-throwing Charlie Hough in his first at-bat on May 1. — Mark Schmetzer, Cincinnati.com, "Interleague play with Reds gives former Woodward star Daryl Boston a chance to come home," 3 July 2018 For Boston, the move recalled the adventures of Doug Mirabelli, who was whisked across the country in May 2006 after a quickie trade with San Diego because the Red Sox needed a catcher for Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball against the Yankees. — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, "Red Sox Fine-Tune Their Roster for a Visit With the Yankees," 29 June 2018 The Orioles couldn’t get anything going against Red Sox knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright, which didn’t make Monday night look a whole lot different from most any other night this season. — Peter Schmuck, baltimoresun.com, "Slumping Orioles try to play small ball, but that doesn't work either," 12 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'knuckleball.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for knuckleball
knuckleball
noun
English Language Learners Definition of knuckleball
baseball
: a pitch that is thrown with very little spin by holding the ball with the knuckles or fingertips
See the full definition for knuckleball in the English Language Learners Dictionary