Meaning & use
curveball
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Meanings
nouncountablesport
In baseball, a pitch thrown with spin so that the ball curves as it approaches the batter.
Grammar: Countable: a curveball, two curveballs.
Patterns
- throw a curveball
- hit a curveball
The pitcher threw a curveball that fooled the batter.
He struck out swinging at a curveball.
nouncountablefigurativeinformal
An unexpected problem or event that disrupts plans or takes someone by surprise.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase 'throw someone a curveball'.
Patterns
- throw someone a curveball
- deal with a curveball
The news of the merger threw the employees a curveball.
Life threw us a curveball when the car broke down.
Word forms
| plural | curveballs |
|---|
Common combinations
- throw a curveball
- The manager threw us a curveball by changing the deadline.
- throw someone a curveball
- The unexpected test threw the students a curveball.
- hit a curveball
- It's hard to hit a curveball in baseball.
- deal with a curveball
- She handled the curveball with calm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- surprise
- A surprise is any unexpected event; a curveball is specifically a disruptive or challenging one.
- curve
- In baseball, a curve is another term for a curveball; in general use, curveball is more common for the figurative sense.
Commonly confused: curveball or curve?
curveball vs curve
A curve is a line that bends; a curveball is a specific type of pitch or a figurative surprise.
Practice
The sudden change in plans really ___.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'throw someone a curveball', meaning to surprise someone with a problem. The other options are grammatically incorrect or not the standard idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “curveball”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.