Definition of "meatball"

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.

1894, Yearbook of Agriculture

I prefer spaghetti with meatballs instead the meat all crumbled in with the sauce.

1996: Mrs. Miracle. Debbie Macomber. Pg. 101.

And then. A 98.4 fastball on the inside half of the plate, ring him up, Strike 3, game over. It wasn’t a meatball like Terrence Long watched to finish 2003 ALDS Game 5, but it felt the same.

2020, Alex Hall, “Oakland A’s faced all their nightmares in Game 3 and wrote a new ending”, in Athletics Nation

During a pitching deck recovery a pilot must average out the meatball oscillations at the ramp in an attempt to maintain his airplane on the desired glide slope.

1961, Approach, volume 7