1A piece of paper that has been chewed and shaped into a ball for use as a missile.
‘Avoiding spitballs, paper airplanes, some desks and a couple of students, John made his way to the teacher's desk, where a rather round man was reading the newspaper.’
‘At this, about a dozen spitballs and crumpled up paper wads made their way towards the girl, testament to the highly bored and volatile class.’
‘They threatened him and threw paper spitballs at him.’
‘They kept throwing pieces of mashed potatoes at her at lunch and throwing spitballs in her hair when a lesson was being taught in the orphanage teaching facilities.’
‘The spectators throw paper airplanes and wads of spitballs at Louis as he walks by because they loathe what they fear.’
‘There were detailed murals on some of the walls, which I thought were extremely ugly, and the layer of spitballs on them didn't help their appearance.’
‘And if you want to ride your scooter out to Connecticut to barrage the place with spitballs, I can't stop you.’
‘Next thing you know, they'll be blowing spitballs at Donnie Graham.’
‘To confront your jealousy, make a secret list of all the things you envy… then wad it up into spitballs.’
‘The Supersuckers are like the bad kids who sit at the back of the class, throwing spitballs and making barnyard noises at the teacher.’
‘Within three minutes of sitting down, the boy was playing with his food and Natalie was making spitballs.’
‘When they look around to see who's been pelting them with spitballs, you'll just be casually checking the time.’
‘She compares her Times letters to spitballs launched toward the front of the classroom.’
‘Do you suppose they've ever lobbed a spitball down a row, or accidentally knocked over their coffee?’
‘The straggly, scrawny kid who grabs a guitar in hopes of finally getting some kind of attention from the girls other than sneers and spitballs is no more.’
‘It was then that I realised that Kenderson was a sensitive young boy trapped in a bully's body, each spitball and noogie a cry for help.’
‘At an age when most kids were discovering spitballs and pizza, Michael was becoming the cornerstone of the burgeoning multimillion-dollar family fortune.’
‘If you don't pay attention you'll be covered with spitballs in a second.’
‘Instead, they kept throwing spitballs at the whiteboard.’
2Baseball An illegal pitch made with a ball moistened with saliva or another substance to make it move erratically.
‘Gaylord Perry succored his Hall of Fame career by often calling upon an illegal spitball pitch.’
‘He caught every type of pitch imaginable, some that are not legal today such as shine balls, spitballs and emery balls, from some of the greatest pitchers of his day.’
‘After getting two strikes on Smith with his spitball, Grimes threw him a fastball, something Smith always handled well.’
‘No official explanation was given for banning the spitball, but for years a variety of objections had been made against it.’
‘Mitchell was a left-handed spitball pitcher who played for six teams - in 1911 and from 1916 to 1932.’
verbo transitivo
[con objeto]coloquial Norteamericano
Throw out (a suggestion) for discussion.
‘I'm just spitballing a few ideas’
‘Though the film is derivative, the best anime usually is, spitballing liberally from American pop culture - TV's Cowboy Bebop is able proof.’
‘So for someone who spent three years co-writing two series of Spaced in her own blood, sweat and tears, isn't the idea that you can spitball a 100-minute movie on the spot just a little galling?’
‘How many of those parents would choose that if there was an alternative that actually did teach, oh I'm just spitballing here, science and math?’
‘Unlike Michelle Malkin, I haven't called anyone to check out this hypothesis - this is only me spitballing.’
‘I don't know if anything has been filed or might be - I'm just spitballing here.’
‘Kerry needs to knock these spitballs down, of course.’
‘You know, reminds them of those great days when they were first able to get on television and, you know, throw the spitballs around.’
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