Pin-ball
[pin-bawl] /ˈpɪnˌbɔl/
noun
1.
any of various games played on a sloping, glass-topped table presenting a field of colorful, knoblike target and rails, the object usually being to shoot a , driven by a spring, up a side passage and cause it to roll back down against these projections and through channels, which electrically flash or ring and record the score.
/ˈpɪnˌbɔːl/
noun
1.
n.
as a type of game, 1907, from pin (n.) + ball (n.1). Originally of types of open-air bowling and basketball variation where the goal was to knock down a pin or pins. Earlier still it meant “pin-cushion.” The tabletop pin-ball machine is attested from 1937.
n.
also pin-ball, game played on a sloping surface, 1911, from pin (n.) + ball (n.1). Earlier it meant “a pincushion” (1803).
verb
To move about erratically: Robin Williams’ comedy routines pinball from one manic impression to another
[1980s+; fr the game of pinball, found by 1911, in which a spring-propelled ball bounces about among obstacles]
Read Also:
- Pinballer
[pin-baw-ler] /ˈpɪnˌbɔ lər/ noun 1. a person who plays machines, especially regularly or habitually.
- Pinball-machine
noun 1. the tablelike, usually coin-operated machine on which pinball is played.
- Pinbol
language, games A decision table language for controlling pinball machines used at Atari. PINBOL included a multitasking executive and an interpreter that worked on data structures compiled from condition:action lists. (1996-11-03)
- Pinbone
[pin-bohn] /ˈpɪnˌboʊn/ noun 1. the hipbone, especially in a four-footed animal.
- Pin-boy
noun 1. (formerly) a person stationed in the sunken area of a bowling alley behind the pins who places the pins in the proper positions, removes pins that have been knocked down, and returns balls to the bowlers.