screwball

screwball
/skrooh"bawl'/, n.
1. Slang. an eccentric or whimsically eccentric person; a nut.
2. Baseball. a pitched ball that curves toward the side of the plate from which it was thrown.
adj.
3. Slang. eccentric or whimsically eccentric: What a screwball idea!
[1865-70; 1935-40 for def. 2; SCREW + BALL1]

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  • Screwball — Comedy bezeichnet eine spezielle Unterart der Filmkomödie Hollywoods, die ihren Höhepunkt von Mitte der 1930er bis Anfang der 1940er Jahre erlebte. Der englische Slang Ausdruck „Screwball“ beschreibt eine Person mit eigenartigen bzw. skurrilen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Screwball — Screwball, n. 1. an eccentric or crazy person; an oddball. 2. a baseball pitch that curves in the direction opposite to that of a curve ball. adj. eccentric; zany; crazy. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • screwball — (n.) eccentric person, 1933, U.S. slang, earlier as a type of erratic baseball pitch (1928), from a still earlier name for a type of delivery in cricket (1866), from SCREW (Cf. screw) (n.) + BALL (Cf. ball) (n.1). Screwball comedy is attested… …   Etymology dictionary

  • screwball — informal, chiefly N. Amer. ► NOUN ▪ a crazy or eccentric person. ► ADJECTIVE 1) crazy; absurd. 2) referring to a style of fast moving comedy film involving eccentric characters or ridiculous situations …   English terms dictionary

  • screwball — ☆ screwball [skro͞o′bôl΄ ] n. 1. Baseball a ball thrown by a right handed pitcher that curves to the right, or one thrown by a left handed pitcher that curves to the left 2. Slang a person who seems erratic, irrational, unconventional, or… …   English World dictionary

  • Screwball — A screwball is a baseball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider.EffectsThrown by a right handed pitcher, a screwball breaks from left to right from the point of view of the pitcher; the pitch therefore moves… …   Wikipedia

  • screwball — 1. n. an eccentric person; a clown or a dunce. (Also a rude term of address.) □ Tom is such a screwball! □ Look, you screwball, get out! 2. n. [in baseball] a (pitched) ball that does not travel in a straight line. □ Jim threw another screwball,… …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • screwball — 1. noun /ˈskruːbɔːl/ a) 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. The screwball is not thrown much because it tends to damage… …   Wiktionary

  • screwball — [[t]skru͟ːbɔːl[/t]] screwballs 1) ADJ: ADJ n Screwball comedy is silly and eccentric in an amusing and harmless way. [INFORMAL] ...a remake of a 50s classic screwball comedy. 2) N COUNT (disapproval) If you say that someone is a screwball, you… …   English dictionary

  • screwball — UK [ˈskruːˌbɔːl] / US [ˈskruˌbɔl] noun [countable] Word forms screwball : singular screwball plural screwballs informal someone who behaves in a way that seems strange or slightly crazy. This word is sometimes used as an insult …   English dictionary

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