beachball

B3E1A1C3H4B3A1L1L1

verb

To hang; to stop responding to user input.

Similar
beach ball
OriginEnglish ball ← Middle English bal ← Old English *beall →
UncommonScrabble 18
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Meanings

nounbeachball (plural beachballs)

plural beachballs

  1. alternativeAlternative form of beach ball.
verbbeachball (third-person singular simple present beachballs, present participle beachballing, simple past and past participle beachballed)

present singular third person beachballs · participle present beachballing · participle past beachballed · past beachballed

  1. intransitiveslangcomputingTo hang; to stop responding to user input.

    Is Xcode “beachballing” forever on you when we try to open a project that was working fine the day before?

    2015, Magno Urbano, Troubleshooting Xcode, Apress, →ISBN, page 54

Synonyms & antonyms

nounlarge and light ball; for play at the seaside

Similar
beach ball
Broader
ball
Also see
beach ball

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-
  2. Proto-Germanic*bakiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*baki
  4. Old Englishbæċ
  5. Middle Englishbache
  6. Englishbeach
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  8. Proto-Germanic*balluz
  9. Old English*beall
  10. Middle Englishbal
  11. Englishball
  12. Englishbeachball

From beach + ball. For the computing sense, because Mac computers indicate waiting with a spinning coloured cursor like a beach ball.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish rantapalloilla, pelata rantapalloa
  • rantapalloillaslang, Mac computing: to stop responding to user input
  • pelata rantapalloaslang, Mac computing: to stop responding to user input
Cite this entry
APA

beachball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beachball

MLA

“beachball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beachball. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beachball,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beachball.

Source: beachball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.