Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Baseball A pitched ball that curves in the direction opposite to that of a normal curve ball.
- n. Slang An eccentric, impulsively whimsical, or irrational person.
- adj. Slang Impulsively whimsical; eccentric: That screwball proposal won't work.
Wiktionary
- n. baseball A pitch thrown with added pressure by the index finger and a twisting wrist motion resulting in a motion to the right when thrown by a right-handed pitcher.
- n. US One who behaves in a crazy manner.
- adj. originally US Crazy, offbeat, bizarre, zany, or weird.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a whimsically eccentric person
- adj. foolish; totally unsound
- n. a pitch with reverse spin that curves toward the side of the plate from which it was thrown
Etymologies
- From screw + ball (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Quote: We had some pitchers that threw what we called a screwball in those days, but that was a hard pitch to throw, and it was hard on your arm.”
“The slider, fastball, and the screwball were all on tonight.”
“One might assume that the incurve is simply the reverse of the outcurve, which would be the reverse of the curveball … which is to say, a screwball.”
“I had a variety of curves—threw a so-called screwball or indrop, too—and I used whatever delivery seemed best.”
“According to The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the incurve was the “pitch now known as a screwball.””
“None of it makes strict sense, which is why it's called screwball, but in its own crazy way”
“When was the era of the wonderful "screwball" movie comedies?”
“Daffy was the first of the new breed of "screwball" characters that emerged in the late 1930s.”
“Denouncing the portly preacher as a "screwball" and a "wacko," the queen defended the British record on human rights and urged the home secretary to look into the circumstances under which Sharpton was admitted to the country ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘screwball’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Bonkers
List for old and new terms and phrases meaning crazy, nuts, batty, prone to extreme nervousness, etc.
bonkers, crazy, nuts, batty, batchy, bats in the belfry, scatty, crackers, windy, gone crackers, cracked, dingo and 92 more...
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funny & derogatory
WARNING: VERY EXPLICIT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
funny derogatory names, quotes, phrases.
( open list, randomness, ad hom, ad hominem )
also see:
buttfucking quitter, dirty sanchez, donkey punch, falcon punch, assbadger, unicorn turd, assclown, fudgenut, quackery, friggin homo, buttmuncher, jackwagon and 274 more... -
Killjoy et al
Namely, compounds consisting of a verb with a direct object immediately after it, without inflection
killjoy, lickspigot, quakebuttock, throttlebottom, scattergood, scapegrace, swillbowl, tosspot, breakfast, cutthroat, pickpocket, dreadnought and 84 more...
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Bonkers
crackers, barmy, half-baked, mental, unhinged, barking, cuckoo, cracked, nuts, mad, insane, touched and 24 more...
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The Medley of Me
A jumble of words, sometimes contradictory, that add up to me. I'll probably be adding to this list for some time, because I'm a very complex individual. ;P
male, long-haired, big-eyed, writer, artist, guitarist, songsmith, talespinner, pilot, wannabe barnstormer, gypsy, cuddlesome and 209 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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Quirkstyle
Fashion elegance, oddities, styles, and cool garments.
tatterdemalion, froufrou, gingham, argyle, corset, hoop skirt, pantaloons, bloomers, jaunty, seersucker, twill, ganguro and 126 more...
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Tuesday words
just the next words that come along
nasality, transignification, lapsarian, disciple, slanguage, atwitter, avast, ahoy, asleep, awake, hymnody, glissade and 573 more...
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geekwad's Words
mysterium, elif, reckon, shadowy, ostensibly, unique, foodie, surreptitiously, asynchronous, insane, berserk, space pirate and 235 more...
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My Little League Baseball Life
A big part of my life - for now. Maybe someday I'll have a "My Major League Baseball Life." If so, free tickets for all Wordies.
seemingly-never-e..., winners bracket, dugout, cleats, gatorade, dirt, cup, jersey, coach, rbi, walk, era and 112 more...
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Play Ball!
Baseball terminology
whiffed, texas leaguer, spitter, around the horn, brushback, circus catch, forkball, knuckler, passed ball, sacrifice fly, switch hitter, backstop and 100 more...
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The language of America's Pastime
Don't think baseball has its own language? Listen to a game on the radio with someone who knows nothing about it.
comebacker, forkball, drag bunt, slider, doubleheader, rainmaker, brushback, shoestring catch, screwball, seventh-inning st..., cutoff man, suicide squeeze and 9 more...
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despicable, detestable and otherwise ...
words i loathe with every fiber of my being...
earworm, webinar, fandango, coddle, screwball, comeuppance, seminal, fecund, staycation, wad, flyblown
Tweets
Looking for tweets for screwball.
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