Definition of "knuckleball" in English

noun

1. (baseball) A pitch thrown with the ball gripped on the fingertips and released with no rotation, which travels over an unpredictable path to the plate due to micro-turbulence in the air.

   • Even the pitcher doesn't know where his knuckleball is going.
   • Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield is best known for his use of the knuckleball.

2. (cricket) A type of delivery where a fast bowler holds the ball on the knuckles of the index and middle fingers.

3. (figurative, informal) An event that is hard to predict.

   • Our vendor keeps throwing us knuckleballs.

verb

1. (intransitive, baseball) To pitch knuckleballs.