dumbbell

[duhm-bel] /ˈdʌmˌbɛl/
noun
1.
a gymnastic apparatus consisting of two wooden or metal balls connected by a short bar serving as a handle, used as a weight for exercising.
2.
a stupid person.
Origin
1705-15; dumb + bell1
Synonyms
2. dunce, ignoramus, fool, blockhead, dimwit.
Examples from the web for dumbbell
  • He says that with each vibration, the dumbbell catches on the spacetime fabric and pushes itself up a tiny bit.
  • To increase difficulty, hold a dumbbell or free-weight plate.
  • Not the heavy, raging body-building type, but dumbbell free weight lifting.
  • Anyone who can hoist a dumbbell and print a business card on a home computer can call him or herself a personal trainer.
  • Machine weights are only a modified version of the bar and dumbbell.
British Dictionary definitions for dumbbell

dumbbell

/ˈdʌmˌbɛl/
noun
1.
(gymnastics, weightlifting) an exercising weight consisting of a single bar with a heavy ball or disc at either end
2.
a small wooden object shaped like this used in dog training for the dog to retrieve
3.
(slang, mainly US & Canadian) a fool
Word Origin and History for dumbbell
n.

"weighted bar used for exercise," 1711, originally an apparatus like that used to ring a church bell, but without the bell (hence dumb); used for exercise but sometimes also to practice ringing changes. Figurative sense of "blockhead, stupid person" attested by 1918, American English college slang.

Slang definitions & phrases for dumbbell

dumbbell

noun

A stupid person; idiot: She's an awful dumb-bell

[1918+; fr dumbbell, a kind of weightlifter's barbell, attested from the 1880s]