Definition

Noun: 1. A small, round ball made from seasoned ground meat: A cooked food item typically formed by shaping a mixture of ground meat (such as beef, pork, veal, or poultry) with ingredients like breadcrumbs, egg, and herbs into a sphere, which is then fried, baked, or simmered. 2. (Informal, North American slang) A foolish, clumsy, or inept person: Used as a mild, often humorous insult to describe someone perceived as dull or incompetent.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Food):

  • She made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
  • The Swedish meatballs were served with a creamy gravy and lingonberry jam.
  • You can bake the meatballs in the oven instead of frying them.

• Noun (Slang):

  • Don't be such a meatball; you forgot your keys again!
  • He's a lovable meatball, but he's not the most coordinated guy on the team.

Advanced Usage

• "To drop a meatball": In broadcasting, particularly sports commentary, this refers to making a glaringly obvious mistake or a foolish statement on air.
  • The commentator really dropped a meatball when he mispronounced the team owner's name.

Variants and Related Words

• Meatloaf (n): A dish of ground meat baked in the shape of a loaf, often using a similar mixture to meatballs.
• Meatball sub / Meatball sandwich (n): A sandwich containing meatballs, usually in marinara sauce, served on a long roll.

Synonyms

• (For food): Frikadeller (Danish/Dutch), köttbullar (Swedish), polpette (Italian).
• (For slang): Doofus, klutz, goofball, oaf.

Related Idioms

• "Meatball surgery": (Military/emergency medicine slang) Rapid, basic surgery performed under austere conditions to stabilize a patient, focusing on essential life-saving procedures rather than finesse.
  • The field medic was trained in meatball surgery to treat wounded soldiers at the front.

Noun

1. ground meat formed into a ball and fried or simmered in broth