curve ball

C c

Definitions of curve ball words

noun curve ball a continuously bending line, without angles. 1
noun curve ball the act or extent of curving. 1
noun curve ball any curved outline, form, thing, or part. 1
noun curve ball a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc. 1
noun curve ball Railroads. a curved section of track: in the U.S. the curve is often expressed as the central angle, measured in degrees, of a curved section of track subtended by a chord 100 feet (30 meters) long (degree of curve) 1
noun curve ball Also called curve ball, curveball. Baseball. a pitch delivered with a spin that causes the ball to veer from a normal straight path, away from the side from which it was thrown. the course of such a pitched ball. 1

before 1565

One of the 32% oldest English words

1565-75; (< Middle French) < Latin curvus crooked, bent, curved

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 99% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

bender — If someone goes on a bender, they drink a very large amount of alcohol.
curve — A curve is a smooth, gradually bending line, for example part of the edge of a circle.
googly — a bowled ball that swerves in one direction and breaks in the other.