ˈbutter-ball
1. A ball of butter; butter moulded into a ball.
| 1892 J. C. Harris Plantation Printer 58 She wur a fine cow too, ez fat ez a butter-ball. 1901 Greenough & Kittredge Words (1902) 177 Thus we have butterball, a ball that consists of butter. 1952 L. MacNeice Ten Burnt Offerings ix. 85 One minute quicksilver, next minute butterballs. |
2. The buffle-head or buffle-headed duck, Clangula albeola, of North America, so called from its exceeding fatness in autumn. U.S.
| a 1813 Wilson Amer. Ornith. (1814) VIII. 51 Buffel-headed Duck{ddd}usually known by the name of the Butter-box, or Butter-ball. 1874 [see bufflehead 2]. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 212/1 Over me they went, so close that I could tell that they were butter balls. 1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xiii. 85 Butterballs and scoters paddled up at his approach. |