fastball meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

fastball

noun

Etymology From fast (adjective) + ball.

Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A high-speed pitch of a baseball.

Cam Smith bounced to shortstop on a 100 mph fastball, and Jacob Melton also grounded out on an 86.9 mph curveball.2025 June 11, “White Sox pitching prospect Grant Taylor makes jump from Double-A to perfect major league debut”, in Associated Press, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2025:

Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Specifically A four-seam fastball, which is a backspin pitch thrown with a ball gripped in the direction to cause four of the seams of the ball to cross the flight path and released with roughly equal pressure by the index and middle fingers

The pitcher had a blazing fastball.

Synonyms: cheese, fireball, gas, heat, hummer
Derived terms: fastball count, fastballer, split-fingered fastball
Related terms: Bugs Bunny change-up, change-up, curveball, cut fastball, gyroball, knuckleball, screwball, sinker, slider, spitball, split-finger fastball, two-seam fastball

fastball

verb

Etymology From fast (adjective) + ball.

Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To throw (something) at a high speed.

Kevin pushed away from the desk and fastballed it into the other man’s chest.2004, Richard Marinick, chapter 25, in Boyos: A Novel, Boston, Mass.: Kate’s Mystery Books, →ISBN, page 112:
Wyatt spurred his horse to the middle of the stones, reached into the corpse’s chest, yanked out the heart, and fastballed it at a vine-covered tree stump.2007 December 6, Jennifer Rardin, chapter 5, in Another One Bites the Dust (Jaz Parks; 2), New York, N.Y.: Orbit, →ISBN, page 44:

1 more example

He targeted a man standing a bit taller than the others and fastballed the lock in his direction. The lock somehow managed to miss everyone below and clattered against the pavement.2014, Kenneth Calhoun, chapter 15, in Black Moon: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Hogarth, →ISBN, page 240: