slimeball

Meanings

1. A round lump made up of or coated with slime or a slime-like substance such as mucus.
2. A mucus-coated lump containing the cercariae (“parasitic larvae”) of a liver fluke (of the phylum Platyhelminthes).
3. A person who is slimy (that is, sneaky or underhanded) or otherwise undesirable.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sley- Proto-Germanic *slīmą Old English slīm English slime Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *balluz Old English *beall Middle English bal English ball English slimeball From slime + ball. Sense 1 (“a round lump made up of or coated with slime or a slime-like substance”) is a calque of German Schleimkugel, from Schleim (“mucus, slime”) + Kugel (“ball”), while sense 1.1 (“a mucus-coated lump containing the cercariae of a liver fluke”) may be a calque of German Schleimball (from Schleim (“slime”) + Ball (“ball”)).

Translations