pinball

«pinball» in Mova's school dictionary: An arcade game in which you shoot a metal ball up a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (pinball, uncountable; a pinball machine)

meaning for a pupil

1) An arcade game in which you shoot a metal ball up a sloping table and use flippers to keep it bouncing off targets to score points. tree →

2) (verb, informal) To bounce quickly from one place to another: «The ball pinballed around the box.» tree →

sense in the lessons

Everyday games word: pinball machines are found in arcades, cafes and on computers. In science lessons it can illustrate forces, slopes and bouncing (collisions). Sports commentators say a ball «pinballed» around the penalty area.

examples

• We played pinball at the arcade on the pier. tree →
• Press the buttons to move the flippers in pinball. tree →
• I got a high score on the pinball machine. tree →
• The ball went pinballing between the defenders. tree →
• Pinball machines use springs, slopes and magnets. tree →
• Gravity pulls the pinball down the table. tree →

note

Uncountable as a game (play pinball); countable as a machine (two pinball machines). One word. The verb «pinball» is informal.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «pinball» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.