slowball

plural slowballs

1. ball gamesA pitch that is not a fastball or curveball; often a change-up.
2. Steady, cautionary behavior as a delaying tactic.

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

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

   2 more examples

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

   2007 July 1, Jim Rutenberg, “Bush to Urge Putin to Aid in Pressuring Iran”, in New York Times

   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.

   2011 July 2, Deena Winter, “AG to Google: Clean up YouTube”, in Nebraska Watchdog, archived from the original on 05 Mar 2016

3. An easy or obvious target.

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

   2014, James Wittenbach, Worlds Apart Book 10: Eventide, Booktango, →ISBN

   2 more examples

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

   1998, Mark Alan Stewart, Frederick J. O'Toole, Arco's Teach Yourself to Beat the GRE in 24 Hours, Arco, →ISBN

   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.

   2009, Tom Cavenagh, A Matter of Truth, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 150

present singular third person slowballs · participle present slowballing · participle past slowballed · past slowballed

1. ball gamesTo pitch a slowball.
2. To delay something for personal advantage.

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

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

   2 more examples

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

   1965, United States, Congress, United States. Congress. Joint Economic Committee, Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Joint Economic Committee

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

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