meatball

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"meatball" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“meatball” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,190. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,190
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
10
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ball of minced or ground meat, seasoned and cooked.

Corpus desk

Index EN-meatball · meatball · English

meatball · rank #34,190 · 10 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,190
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH meaningfully

Nearest frequency peer: meaningfully (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “meatball”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “meatball” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for meatball
PropertyValue
Headwordmeatball
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#34,190
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “meatball”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).meatballlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “meaningfully” (#34,189), “Medford” (#34,191), “merino” (#34,192). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “meatball” is #34,190. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around meatball, anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,190 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for meatball, with forms such as "ematball", "maetball", and "meabtall". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From meat + ball. The correct English form is meatball, spelled M-E-A-T-B-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A ball of minced or ground meat, seasoned and cooked.
  2. 2
    A stupid person; a meathead.
  3. 3
    An easy pitch to hit, especially thrown right down the middle of the plate.
  4. 4
    An optical landing system.
  5. 5
    A menu icon of three horizontal dots.
  6. 6
    Ellipsis of meatball flag.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how meatball appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Meatballs was on the menu for lunch.
  2. Meatballs may contain ground meat mixed with seasonings, breadcrumbs, mashed potatoes, rice, and liquid. The meat mixture is often shaped, browned. and simmered in a sauce for 30 to 45 minutes over low heat or in a 350° F. oven. During cooking the meat is basted with the sauce occasionally. Meatballs also may be fried in a pan or in deep fat.

Etymology

From meat + ball.

This word in other languages

albóndiga(Español)boulette(Français)Frikadelle(Deutsch)almôndega(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ematball
  • maetball
  • meabtall
  • meatabll
  • meatbal
  • meatbball
  • meatblal
  • meattball
  • metaball
  • mmeatball

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of meatball - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ematball2maetball2meabtall2meatabll2meatbal1meatbball1meatblal2meattball1
Edit distance from "meatball"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "meatball"?
"meatball" is spelled M-E-A-T-B-A-L-L.
What does "meatball" mean?
As a noun, "meatball" means: A ball of minced or ground meat, seasoned and cooked.
What are common misspellings of "meatball"?
Common misspellings include "ematball", "maetball", "meabtall", "meatabll", "meatbal". The correct spelling is "meatball".
What is the origin of the word "meatball"?
From meat + ball. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "meatball", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mumbling#34,202nautilus#34,203linguist#34,162laminate#34,155

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

McHugh10 variantsmagpies10 variantsOrpheus10 variantsleeches10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list