patball

English

Alternative forms

• pat-ball

Etymology

pat +‎ ball

Noun

patball (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) A particular children's ball game played against a wall with a tennis ball.
2. (figurative) A back-and-forth situation.
   • 1981, Richard Howard Stafford Crossman, The Backbench Diaries of Richard Crossman, Holmes & Meier Pub:

     Opposite him sat Peter Thorneycroft and the patball went on and on and on. It's as though one hadn't left off last July - the same sort of professional debating, two heavyweights in a clinch because neither wants to knock the other out  […]

3. (countable) The ball used in the game of patball.
4. (figurative) A pawn, a football.
   • 2003, Lindsey Davis, The Accusers, Century, →ISBN:

     Don't you know that your very best friend is being made somebody's patball?