English

Noun

slowball ‎(plural slowballs)

1. (baseball) A pitch that is not a fastball or curveball; often a change-up.
2. Steady, cautionary behavior as a delaying tactic.
   • 2007 July 1, Jim Rutenberg, “Bush to Urge Putin to Aid in Pressuring Iran”, in New York Times:

     “We imagine that the Russians and the Chinese are going to play slowball here,” said a senior official involved in the sanctions talks.

   • 2011 July 2, Deena Winter, “AG to Google: Clean up YouTube”, in Nebraska Watchdog:

     But he says the company is dragging its feet and threatened to use his subpoena power to get them moving. “They’re trying to play slowball,” he said of Google.

   • 2012 May 9, Giles Mole, “Ulster v Leinster, Heineken Cup final”, in The Daily Telegraph:

     Dave Kearney then says he's had enough of the slow-ball tactics and bursts through a couple of tackles.

3. An easy or obvious target.
   • 1998, Mark Alan Stewart, Frederick J. O'Toole, Arco's Teach Yourself to Beat the GRE in 24 Hours, Arco (ISBN 9780028626901)

     Remember: In work problems, use your common sense to narrow down answer choices! Now we're going to throw a "slowball" at you.

   • 2009, Tom Cavenagh, A Matter of Truth, iUniverse (ISBN 9781440115646), page 150

     The interviewer nodded sympathetically. “Why do you think he would react so harshly?” A slowball question he hoped she would knock out of the park from a pro-abortion perspective.

   • 2014, James Wittenbach, Worlds Apart Book 10: Eventide, Booktango (ISBN 9781468951868)

     The opening for a milk-beast related play on the name Lady Angus was a nice hanging slowball, but Keeler bit his tongue.

Verb

slowball ‎(third-person singular simple present slowballs, present participle slowballing, simple past and past participle slowballed)

1. (baseball) To pitch a slowball.
2. To delay something for personal advantage.
   • 1965, United States, Congress, United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Joint Economic Committee

     A prolonged study is frequently a method of slowballing an investigation until the Senators or Congress who are interested pass from the political scene.

   • 1996, Tae-Hwan Kwak, Edward A. Olsen, The Major Powers of Northeast Asia: Seeking Peace and Security, Lynne Rienner Publishers (ISBN 9781555875664), page 170

     As one senior U.S. military observer stated: "They are stonewalling us and slowballing us."

   • 2010, J. DAVID BUTLER, THE WATER BALL: A story of faith and enduring love, Xlibris Corporation (ISBN 9781469100951)

     And if some guy is dipping into the funds or taking bribes or slowballing things, those people should be exposed.