A thrust ball bearing is a specific type of rotary ball bearing designed to handle light to moderate axial loads only. They generally consist of two, possibly grooved, raceways and a set of caged ball bearings. Unlike roller thrust bearings, thrust ball bearings can usually operate at higher speeds, but oil lubrication is required in higher speed applications.

Thrust ball bearings come in two types, single and double direction. As their names imply, the single direction variants can handle axial loads and locate shafts axially in one direction at a time, while the double direction variants can handle axial loads and locate shafts axially in both directions.