hairball
hairball · hairballs
Fellknäuel, Haarballen
A trichobezoar; a small wad of fur or mass of hair formed in the digestive system of a…A trichobezoar; a small wad of fur or mass of hair formed in the digestive system of a cat or other animal, from hair ingested while grooming.
» The cat coughed up a hairball.
Meaning
2 sensesA trichobezoar; a small wad of fur or mass of hair formed in the digestive system of a cat or other animal, from hair ingested while grooming.
Fellknäuel, Haarballen
(figuratively, slang)A messy, tangled, intractable issue.
The contract negotiations are turning into a real hairball.
More definitions
- a compact mass of hair that forms in the alimentary canal (especially in the stomach of animals as a result of licking fur)
Examples
3 sentencesThe cat coughed up a hairball.
The catgirl coughed up a hairball.
Felix left a hairball in my shoe.
Translations
6 languagesDeutsch
By meaning 1
wad of fur:
Origin
From hair + ball.From hair + ball.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: hairballsSynonyms
4 synonymsClose in meaning
- a compact mass of hair that forms in the alimentary canal (especially in the stomach of animals as a result of licking fur):hair balltrichobezoar