fireballn.

Brit.

/ˈfʌɪəbɔːl/, U.S.

/ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbɔl/,

/ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbɑl/

Forms: see fire n. and int. and ball n.¹

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: fire n., ball n.¹

Etymology: < fire n. + ball n.¹Compare Dutch vuurbal burning projectile (1552), firework (1679), Middle Low German vǖrbal burning projectile, ball used for heating, explosion produced by a firework, German Feuerball (also Feuerballen) burning projectile (1525), the sun (1651).

(a) A ball or bag filled with combustible or explosive material and discharged into the air, esp. to cause damage by explosion or to set fire to something; (in mythological or magical contexts) a ball of fire discharged to inflict damage or harm.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > incendiary missile

fireballc1485

stopsel1489

firework1528

ball?a1549

firepot?a1549

bomb1588

powder pot1611

fire-trunk1639

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 247 Gif ony man wald say on ane othir, yat he had priuely put fyre, be a fyre ball—or othir wayis jn his hous.

1536 in J. R. N. Macphail Papers Sir William Fraser (1924) 222 Twelf fyrbawis.

1595 R. Barnfield Cassandra xli, in Cynthia sig. E1^v Vulcan darted Against their Towers his burning fier-bals.

1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxiv. iv. 249 Tumbling downe huge stones, with firebrands, and fireballs [L. malleolis].

1684 Scanderbeg Redivivus v. 120 They shot above 2000 Cannon Bullets into the Town, and 500 Fireballs.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Fire balls are bags of canvas filled with gunpowder, sulphur, saltpetre, pitch, &c.

1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. v. i. 505 A fire-ball struck the rája's elephant.

1942 Pop. Sci. Nov. 125/2 Whipping out his Very pistol, one of the outgoing crew discharges a single green fireball.

2009 D. Davidson Well Played 1.0 20 If Mario hits the enemy with a fireball, the enemy is hurt and removed from the game.

(b) Heraldry. A representation of such a projectile with flames issuing from the top, or (occasionally) from the top, bottom, and both sides.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of weapons or armour > [noun] > fireball

fireball1682

1682 H. Keepe Monumenta Westmonasteriensia 256 Crest to the second on a Torce Arg. and Gules, a Castle B. a demy Lion ramp. issuing out of the Battlements Or, holding a Fire-ball prop.

1830 T. Robson Brit. Herald III. Gloss. at Ball Fire Ball, or Ball fired proper, is always represented with the fire issuing from the top. When otherwise, it should be so expressed in the blazon; as, a ball fired in four places.

1894 Notes & Queries 4 Aug. 97/1 The grenade, fireball, or bombshell, fired, proper, is the crest of the families of Collison and Leeds.

1915 Patriotic Marylander Sept. 57 The arms of the Ball family of Talbot County, Maryland, on the other hand, are emblazoned: Argent, a chevron between three fireballs sable, fired ppr.

1993 B. J. Stein U.S. Army Heraldic Crests 192/1 The fireball alludes to the zeal and readiness of the unit.

†b. figurative. A speech, remark, etc., intended to cause trouble, disturbance, or commotion. Cf. hand grenade n. 1b. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > controversy, dispute, argument > [noun] > instance of

flitec1000

plead1379

traverse1415

controversyc1430

disputation1557

tilt1567

wrangle1579

controverse1596

velitation1607

dispute1611

rixation1623

polemic1626

fireball1638

polemy1642

risse1684

polemical1808

spar1836

row1879

set-to1898

cag1916

barge1934

yike1976

stand-up2005

1638 D. Featley Transubstant. Exploded Ep. Ded. sig. A2^v What he ordained for the surest tie of unity..is through the malice of Satan, and hereticall pravitie turned into a bill of divorce, or rather fire-ball of contention.

a1674 T. Traherne Christian Ethicks (1675) 390 Virulent Speeches are a fire-ball tossed to and fro, of them that love Death.

1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell ii. xxix. 131 At this Time there were Fire-Balls of Dissention flung..all over the Kingdom.

1789 M. Moorhouse Defence 62 If he stands up to oppose, he may meet with such a fire-ball, as I was told was thrown at Mr. B——n in the public conference at Leeds, 1784: ‘You may walk out and forty more of you.’

1859 Sat. Rev. 22 Jan. 96/1 We have no apprehension that his fireball will disturb the public or local peace.

†a. In early use: St Elmo's fire. In later use: a globe of ball lightning. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > globular

fireball1611

thunder-ball1686

globular lightning1843

ball lightning1846

ball of fire1900

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types

fireball1611

forked lightning1611

summer lightning1679

ball of fire1684

thunder-ball1686

sheet lightning1794

wildfirea1831

heat-lightning1834

globular lightning1843

ribbon lightning1888

beaded lightning1889

bead lightning1899

1555 R. Eden Disc. Vyage rounde Worlde in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 217^v The fyer baule or starre commonly cauled saynt Helen [L. Helenæ sidus].

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xiv. 616/1 There was such a Tempest & thunder with great firebals of lightning.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State i. i. 2 It is an observation of Seamen, That if a single meteor or fireball falls on their mast, it portends ill luck.

1761 T. Ronayne Let. 26 Aug. in B. Franklin Papers (1966) IX. 352 Can Fire balls and other Phoenomena seen with or without Lightning be accounted for by electrical Principles?

1817 W. Pitt Topogr. Hist. Staffs. I. 192 During a violent thunder-storm, a fire-ball fell into the chimney of a house occupied by Stephen Cox.

1888 P. G. Tait in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 330/1 The most mysterious phenomenon is what goes by the name of ‘globe-lightning’ or ‘fire-ball’.

1900 Daily News 13 June 4/5 About mid-day yesterday, during a terrific thunderstorm, a fire-ball fell on the roof of one of the fourteen thatched cottages.

b. A large meteor which burns or glows brightly on entering the earth's atmosphere; a bolide. In later use also: a similar effect produced by the re-entry of a spacecraft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > constellation > comet or meteor > meteor > [noun] > fireball

fiery globe1561

draco volans1663

fireball1686

bolide1852

1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. iv. 351 A great Fireball is noted by Kepler.

1741 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 41 873 He told me he saw no Fire-ball, but heard the Noise, and that it made the Ship shake he was in.

1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden I. Addit. Notes 2 Dr. Blagden has related the history of another large meteor, or fire-ball, which was seen the 18th of August, 1783.

1809 B. Silliman & J. L. Kingsley in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 6 ii. 325 When the meteor disappeared, there were apparently three successive efforts or leaps of the fire-ball.

1883 H. A. Newton in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 108/1 Another class of luminous meteors known as shooting or falling stars, fire balls, [etc.].

1929 G. P. Merrill Minerals from Earth & Sky i. i. 26 The flight of such a body through the atmosphere would give rise to all the phenomena of the fireball or shooting star.

1963 Times 17 May 14/1 The heatshield produced a ‘fireball’ through friction with the atmosphere.

2006 P. Jenniskens Meteor Showers & their Parent Comets xv. 225 One fireball just before dawn..created a spectacular persistent train.

c. A ball of fire or flame produced by an explosion; a fierce but localized conflagration; (in early use) spec. one resulting from a nuclear explosion; (in extended use) a large explosion in space, esp. in the early universe.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear explosion > [noun] > flame indicating

fireball1945

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > ball of fire from nuclear explosion

ball of fire1578

fireball1945

1945 Salt Lake Tribune 27 Sept. 6/4 (heading) Mile wide fire ball.

1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Feb. 45/2 The exploding super-bomb produces a 3 to 4 mile diameter fireball.

1957 Times 18 May 6/4 The base of the fireball was well above the surface of the sea.

1965 Princeton Alumni Weekly 28 Sept. 8/1 This model began with the assumption of an oscillating universe, expanding from a fireball until, because of the warping of space by gravity in relativity, it falls in on itself and starts another cycle.

1970 P. Anderson Tau Zero (1973) 61 Intensifying the thermonuclear fireball that trailed her trailing Bussard engine, the ship shifted over to three gravities.

1987 H. L. Shipman Space 2000 xiii. 318 Her career as spacefarer and teacher was cut short in the fireball that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger.

2003 Connecting Quarks with Cosmos (U.S. National Res. Council: Div. Engin. & Phys. Sci.) vii. 137 The transition to a quark-gluon plasma in the fireball formed when two massive nuclei collide at high energy.

2014 N.Y. Mag. 6 Jan. 14/4 (in figure) Two teenagers suffered burns when, while making marijuana wax, they accidentally lit butane-soaked weed and created a fireball.

†3.

a. A compact ball of combustible material for use in kindling fires; a ball-shaped firelighter. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun] > coal-derived fuel

coal ball1603

pipe-coal1612

hotshot1673

hotshoot1704

fireball1735

brickette1806

briquette1884

coal slurry1912

slurry1913

semi-coke1918

Phurnacite1937

syncrude1971

1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals II. 133 He slily lighted a Fire-ball at the Fire-side, clapped into a Closet..in which the foul Cloaths were kept, and perceiving the Smoak, cried out.

1778 Farmer's Mag. Oct. 330 Near a century ago a pamphlet was published to recommend the following receipt for making Fire Balls.

1796 Count Rumford Ess., Polit., Econ., & Philos. I. iv. iii. 372 Fire balls of the size of goose eggs..would make a much more cleanly, and in all respects a pleasanter fire.

1873 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 21 551/2 The managers..constituted fourteen committees for the following purposes:..Ascertaining the effects of mixing clay, &c., with coal dust and cinders, in forming fire-balls and combustible cakes.

b. A ball of refractory material such as firebrick put into a fire to slow the burning of the fuel. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1769 Brit. Jewel 71 You may add a quantity of cow dung, which will greatly assist these inemitable [sic] fire balls.

1893 Cassell's Family Mag. 140/2 I mean to invest in fire-balls, which are made of fire-brick, and when red-hot give out quite as much heat as coals.

1907 Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specif. 80/2 Fuel-economizers.—A mixture of Stourbridge clay and ground clinker..is moulded into fire bricks and fireballs.

4. Baseball. A very fast pitch or delivery; spec. = fastball n. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > pitching > types of pitch

change of pace1650

slow ball1838

passed ball1860

ball1863

rib roaster1864

called ball1865

low ball1866

wild pitch1867

curveball1875

short pitch1877

grass cutter1879

fastball1883

downshoot1886

lob ball1888

pitchout1903

bean ballc1905

spitball1905

screwball1908

spitter1908

sinker ball1910

fallaway1912

meatball1912

fireball1913

roundhouse1913

forkball1923

sinker1926

knuckle ball1927

knuckler1928

gofer1932

slider1936

sailer1937

junk1941

change up1942

eephus1943

junkball1944

split-finger(ed) fastball1980

change1982

1913 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Disp. 30 Apr. 14/6 He..is hot on the heels of Walter Johnson, the fireball king of Washington.

1938 San Antonio (Texas) Light 7 Feb. 8 a/2 He pitched a fireball past Texas' best softball batters in the state tournament at Port Arthur last summer, and was the outstanding player of the tournament.

1982 C. Bukowski Ham on Rye xlii. 180 The next guy struck out. Our pitcher..had a good fireball.

2014 T. Barber et al. Extra Innings xiii. 98 Benson was throwing fireballs, and the first two hitters popped weakly to the infield.

5. colloquial. A feisty, energetic, or quick-tempered person. Cf. ball of fire n. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > [noun] > irascible person

wasp1496

shit-fire1598

flesh-pistol1608

tinder-box1608

touchwood1617

Tartar1669

touch and go1675

spitfire1684

vengeance1712

spunkie1821

pepperbox1822

tempest1852

pepperer1864

gingersnap1889

pepperpot1894

spit-cat1898

spit kitten1912

slow burner1930

fireball1931

pop-off1938

1931 News (Frederick, Maryland) 16 Nov. 6/5 Mickey is a fireball in the ring and a real fighting machine.

1973 V. G. Nee & B. de Bary Nee Longtime Californ' x. 266 The kids make a terrific racket in the house... They're fireballs, with an encyclopedic vocabulary of four-letter English words.

1986 New Yorker 5 May 108/3 My mother..was a fireball. We had a chow..and one night it bit me and she almost went through the ceiling.

1995 L. Gough Heartbreaker xii. 105 Every so often he'd make a sale. But, speaking plainly, he was no fireball.

2006 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 19 Feb. 106 Dana is opinionated, funny and a feisty fireball of a woman.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	fireball
释义	fireballn. Brit. /ˈfʌɪəbɔːl/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbɔl/, /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌbɑl/ Forms: see fire n. and int. and ball n.¹ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: fire n., ball n.¹ Etymology: < fire n. + ball n.¹Compare Dutch vuurbal burning projectile (1552), firework (1679), Middle Low German vǖrbal burning projectile, ball used for heating, explosion produced by a firework, German Feuerball (also Feuerballen) burning projectile (1525), the sun (1651). 1. a. (a) A ball or bag filled with combustible or explosive material and discharged into the air, esp. to cause damage by explosion or to set fire to something; (in mythological or magical contexts) a ball of fire discharged to inflict damage or harm. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > [noun] > incendiary missile fireballc1485 stopsel1489 firework1528 ball?a1549 firepot?a1549 bomb1588 powder pot1611 fire-trunk1639 c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 247 Gif ony man wald say on ane othir, yat he had priuely put fyre, be a fyre ball—or othir wayis jn his hous. 1536 in J. R. N. Macphail Papers Sir William Fraser (1924) 222 Twelf fyrbawis. 1595 R. Barnfield Cassandra xli, in Cynthia sig. E1^v Vulcan darted Against their Towers his burning fier-bals. 1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xxiv. iv. 249 Tumbling downe huge stones, with firebrands, and fireballs [L. malleolis]. 1684 Scanderbeg Redivivus v. 120 They shot above 2000 Cannon Bullets into the Town, and 500 Fireballs. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Fire balls are bags of canvas filled with gunpowder, sulphur, saltpetre, pitch, &c. 1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. v. i. 505 A fire-ball struck the rája's elephant. 1942 Pop. Sci. Nov. 125/2 Whipping out his Very pistol, one of the outgoing crew discharges a single green fireball. 2009 D. Davidson Well Played 1.0 20 If Mario hits the enemy with a fireball, the enemy is hurt and removed from the game. (b) Heraldry. A representation of such a projectile with flames issuing from the top, or (occasionally) from the top, bottom, and both sides. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of weapons or armour > [noun] > fireball fireball1682 1682 H. Keepe Monumenta Westmonasteriensia 256 Crest to the second on a Torce Arg. and Gules, a Castle B. a demy Lion ramp. issuing out of the Battlements Or, holding a Fire-ball prop. 1830 T. Robson Brit. Herald III. Gloss. at Ball Fire Ball, or Ball fired proper, is always represented with the fire issuing from the top. When otherwise, it should be so expressed in the blazon; as, a ball fired in four places. 1894 Notes & Queries 4 Aug. 97/1 The grenade, fireball, or bombshell, fired, proper, is the crest of the families of Collison and Leeds. 1915 Patriotic Marylander Sept. 57 The arms of the Ball family of Talbot County, Maryland, on the other hand, are emblazoned: Argent, a chevron between three fireballs sable, fired ppr. 1993 B. J. Stein U.S. Army Heraldic Crests 192/1 The fireball alludes to the zeal and readiness of the unit. †b. figurative. A speech, remark, etc., intended to cause trouble, disturbance, or commotion. Cf. hand grenade n. 1b. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > controversy, dispute, argument > [noun] > instance of flitec1000 plead1379 traverse1415 controversyc1430 disputation1557 tilt1567 wrangle1579 controverse1596 velitation1607 dispute1611 rixation1623 polemic1626 fireball1638 polemy1642 risse1684 polemical1808 spar1836 row1879 set-to1898 cag1916 barge1934 yike1976 stand-up2005 1638 D. Featley Transubstant. Exploded Ep. Ded. sig. A2^v What he ordained for the surest tie of unity..is through the malice of Satan, and hereticall pravitie turned into a bill of divorce, or rather fire-ball of contention. a1674 T. Traherne Christian Ethicks (1675) 390 Virulent Speeches are a fire-ball tossed to and fro, of them that love Death. 1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell ii. xxix. 131 At this Time there were Fire-Balls of Dissention flung..all over the Kingdom. 1789 M. Moorhouse Defence 62 If he stands up to oppose, he may meet with such a fire-ball, as I was told was thrown at Mr. B——n in the public conference at Leeds, 1784: ‘You may walk out and forty more of you.’ 1859 Sat. Rev. 22 Jan. 96/1 We have no apprehension that his fireball will disturb the public or local peace. 2. †a. In early use: St Elmo's fire. In later use: a globe of ball lightning. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > globular fireball1611 thunder-ball1686 globular lightning1843 ball lightning1846 ball of fire1900 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types fireball1611 forked lightning1611 summer lightning1679 ball of fire1684 thunder-ball1686 sheet lightning1794 wildfirea1831 heat-lightning1834 globular lightning1843 ribbon lightning1888 beaded lightning1889 bead lightning1899 1555 R. Eden Disc. Vyage rounde Worlde in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 217^v The fyer baule or starre commonly cauled saynt Helen [L. Helenæ sidus]. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xiv. 616/1 There was such a Tempest & thunder with great firebals of lightning. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State i. i. 2 It is an observation of Seamen, That if a single meteor or fireball falls on their mast, it portends ill luck. 1761 T. Ronayne Let. 26 Aug. in B. Franklin Papers (1966) IX. 352 Can Fire balls and other Phoenomena seen with or without Lightning be accounted for by electrical Principles? 1817 W. Pitt Topogr. Hist. Staffs. I. 192 During a violent thunder-storm, a fire-ball fell into the chimney of a house occupied by Stephen Cox. 1888 P. G. Tait in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 330/1 The most mysterious phenomenon is what goes by the name of ‘globe-lightning’ or ‘fire-ball’. 1900 Daily News 13 June 4/5 About mid-day yesterday, during a terrific thunderstorm, a fire-ball fell on the roof of one of the fourteen thatched cottages. b. A large meteor which burns or glows brightly on entering the earth's atmosphere; a bolide. In later use also: a similar effect produced by the re-entry of a spacecraft. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > constellation > comet or meteor > meteor > [noun] > fireball fiery globe1561 draco volans1663 fireball1686 bolide1852 1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. iv. 351 A great Fireball is noted by Kepler. 1741 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 41 873 He told me he saw no Fire-ball, but heard the Noise, and that it made the Ship shake he was in. 1791 E. Darwin Bot. Garden I. Addit. Notes 2 Dr. Blagden has related the history of another large meteor, or fire-ball, which was seen the 18th of August, 1783. 1809 B. Silliman & J. L. Kingsley in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 6 ii. 325 When the meteor disappeared, there were apparently three successive efforts or leaps of the fire-ball. 1883 H. A. Newton in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 108/1 Another class of luminous meteors known as shooting or falling stars, fire balls, [etc.]. 1929 G. P. Merrill Minerals from Earth & Sky i. i. 26 The flight of such a body through the atmosphere would give rise to all the phenomena of the fireball or shooting star. 1963 Times 17 May 14/1 The heatshield produced a ‘fireball’ through friction with the atmosphere. 2006 P. Jenniskens Meteor Showers & their Parent Comets xv. 225 One fireball just before dawn..created a spectacular persistent train. c. A ball of fire or flame produced by an explosion; a fierce but localized conflagration; (in early use) spec. one resulting from a nuclear explosion; (in extended use) a large explosion in space, esp. in the early universe. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear explosion > [noun] > flame indicating fireball1945 the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > ball of fire from nuclear explosion ball of fire1578 fireball1945 1945 Salt Lake Tribune 27 Sept. 6/4 (heading) Mile wide fire ball. 1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Feb. 45/2 The exploding super-bomb produces a 3 to 4 mile diameter fireball. 1957 Times 18 May 6/4 The base of the fireball was well above the surface of the sea. 1965 Princeton Alumni Weekly 28 Sept. 8/1 This model began with the assumption of an oscillating universe, expanding from a fireball until, because of the warping of space by gravity in relativity, it falls in on itself and starts another cycle. 1970 P. Anderson Tau Zero (1973) 61 Intensifying the thermonuclear fireball that trailed her trailing Bussard engine, the ship shifted over to three gravities. 1987 H. L. Shipman Space 2000 xiii. 318 Her career as spacefarer and teacher was cut short in the fireball that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger. 2003 Connecting Quarks with Cosmos (U.S. National Res. Council: Div. Engin. & Phys. Sci.) vii. 137 The transition to a quark-gluon plasma in the fireball formed when two massive nuclei collide at high energy. 2014 N.Y. Mag. 6 Jan. 14/4 (in figure) Two teenagers suffered burns when, while making marijuana wax, they accidentally lit butane-soaked weed and created a fireball. †3. a. A compact ball of combustible material for use in kindling fires; a ball-shaped firelighter. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > coal or types of coal > [noun] > coal-derived fuel coal ball1603 pipe-coal1612 hotshot1673 hotshoot1704 fireball1735 brickette1806 briquette1884 coal slurry1912 slurry1913 semi-coke1918 Phurnacite1937 syncrude1971 1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals II. 133 He slily lighted a Fire-ball at the Fire-side, clapped into a Closet..in which the foul Cloaths were kept, and perceiving the Smoak, cried out. 1778 Farmer's Mag. Oct. 330 Near a century ago a pamphlet was published to recommend the following receipt for making Fire Balls. 1796 Count Rumford Ess., Polit., Econ., & Philos. I. iv. iii. 372 Fire balls of the size of goose eggs..would make a much more cleanly, and in all respects a pleasanter fire. 1873 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 21 551/2 The managers..constituted fourteen committees for the following purposes:..Ascertaining the effects of mixing clay, &c., with coal dust and cinders, in forming fire-balls and combustible cakes. b. A ball of refractory material such as firebrick put into a fire to slow the burning of the fuel. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1769 Brit. Jewel 71 You may add a quantity of cow dung, which will greatly assist these inemitable [sic] fire balls. 1893 Cassell's Family Mag. 140/2 I mean to invest in fire-balls, which are made of fire-brick, and when red-hot give out quite as much heat as coals. 1907 Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specif. 80/2 Fuel-economizers.—A mixture of Stourbridge clay and ground clinker..is moulded into fire bricks and fireballs. 4. Baseball. A very fast pitch or delivery; spec. = fastball n. 1a. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > pitching > types of pitch change of pace1650 slow ball1838 passed ball1860 ball1863 rib roaster1864 called ball1865 low ball1866 wild pitch1867 curveball1875 short pitch1877 grass cutter1879 fastball1883 downshoot1886 lob ball1888 pitchout1903 bean ballc1905 spitball1905 screwball1908 spitter1908 sinker ball1910 fallaway1912 meatball1912 fireball1913 roundhouse1913 forkball1923 sinker1926 knuckle ball1927 knuckler1928 gofer1932 slider1936 sailer1937 junk1941 change up1942 eephus1943 junkball1944 split-finger(ed) fastball1980 change1982 1913 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Disp. 30 Apr. 14/6 He..is hot on the heels of Walter Johnson, the fireball king of Washington. 1938 San Antonio (Texas) Light 7 Feb. 8 a/2 He pitched a fireball past Texas' best softball batters in the state tournament at Port Arthur last summer, and was the outstanding player of the tournament. 1982 C. Bukowski Ham on Rye xlii. 180 The next guy struck out. Our pitcher..had a good fireball. 2014 T. Barber et al. Extra Innings xiii. 98 Benson was throwing fireballs, and the first two hitters popped weakly to the infield. 5. colloquial. A feisty, energetic, or quick-tempered person. Cf. ball of fire n. 2b. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > [noun] > irascible person wasp1496 shit-fire1598 flesh-pistol1608 tinder-box1608 touchwood1617 Tartar1669 touch and go1675 spitfire1684 vengeance1712 spunkie1821 pepperbox1822 tempest1852 pepperer1864 gingersnap1889 pepperpot1894 spit-cat1898 spit kitten1912 slow burner1930 fireball1931 pop-off1938 1931 News (Frederick, Maryland) 16 Nov. 6/5 Mickey is a fireball in the ring and a real fighting machine. 1973 V. G. Nee & B. de Bary Nee Longtime Californ' x. 266 The kids make a terrific racket in the house... They're fireballs, with an encyclopedic vocabulary of four-letter English words. 1986 New Yorker 5 May 108/3 My mother..was a fireball. We had a chow..and one night it bit me and she almost went through the ceiling. 1995 L. Gough Heartbreaker xii. 105 Every so often he'd make a sale. But, speaking plainly, he was no fireball. 2006 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 19 Feb. 106 Dana is opinionated, funny and a feisty fireball of a woman. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c1485
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