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meatball

/ˌmitˈbɔl/
/ˈmitbɔl/
IPA guide

Other forms: meatballs

Those delicious, savory spheres on your spaghetti? They're meatballs, nuggets of ground meat, spices, and bread crumbs.

If you take ground beef, mix in ingredients like torn bread, eggs, and seasoning, and shape it into individual balls, you've got meatballs. They can be fried, simmered, or baked, and you can use whatever tastes good and sticks together to make them. Ancient Chinese and Roman cuisines both included variations on the meatball, so we've been eating these for centuries. And if you know someone who's nice enough but not very smart, you might call them a meatball.

Definitions of meatball
  1. noun
    ground meat formed into a ball and fried or simmered in broth
    see moresee less
    types:
    porcupine ball, porcupines
    meat patties rolled in rice and simmered in a tomato sauce
    Swedish meatball
    meatballs simmered in stock
    type of:
    dish
    a particular item of prepared food
Pronunciation
US
/ˌmitˈbɔl/
UK
/ˈmitbɔl/
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