highball

[hahy-bawl] /ˈhaɪˌbɔl/
noun
1.
a drink of whiskey mixed with club soda or ginger ale and served with ice in a tall glass.
2.
Railroads.
  1. a signal to start a train, given with the hand or with a lamp.
  2. a signal for a train to move at full speed.
3.
Military Slang. a hand salute.
verb (used without object)
4.
Slang. to move at full speed.
verb (used with object)
5.
to signal to (the engineer of a train) to proceed.
Origin
1880-85, Americanism; high + ball1
Examples from the web for highball
  • As always with firm greens and tucked pin locations, a highball flight will be needed to go low.
British Dictionary definitions for highball

highball

/ˈhaɪˌbɔːl/
noun
1.
a long iced drink consisting of a spirit base with water, soda water, etc
2.
(originally in railway use) a signal that the way ahead is clear and one may proceed
verb
3.
(intransitive) to move at great speed
4.
(transitive) to drive (a vehicle) at great speed
Word Origin
C19: (in sense 2) from the early railway signal consisting of a ball hoisted to the top of a pole
Word Origin and History for highball
n.

type of alcoholic drink, 1898, probably from ball "drink of whiskey;" high because it is served in a tall glass.

Slang definitions & phrases for highball

highball

noun
  1. A signal denoting a clear track or clearance to start or accelerate (1897+ Railroad)
  2. A train running on schedule, or an express train (Railroad)
  3. An iced, mixed alcoholic drink taken in a high glass: He quaffed a couple of rye highballs and left (1898+)
  4. A military salute (WWI Army)
verb

To speed; rush: A train was thirty yards away, highballing down the track/ One New York distributor highballed 30 trucks through the Holland Tunnel (1925+ Railroad)

[fr the former use of a railroad trackside signal using a two-foot globe, raised or lowered, to instruct the engineer; the military sense fr the use of a railroad conductor's raised hand or fist as a signal to the engineer to start, the term transferred from the mechanical signal; the drinking sense is probably fr a ball, ''drink of whiskey'' in a high glass]