ballingn.1
/ˈbɔːlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɔlɪŋ/, /ˈbɑlɪŋ/ 1. Holding or frequenting of balls; dancing at balls. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > ball or dance > [noun] > participation in
ballinga1572
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1848) II. 473 There was nothing in the Court but banquitting, balling, and dancing.
1634–46 J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 172 She..is to be admonished for night-waking, balling, etc.
a1698 W. Row Suppl. in R. Blair Life (1848) (modernized text) x. 226 There was balling and dancing till near day.
1716 W. Wishart Theologia I. ii. 56 When Men spend their Time in..Balling and Dancing; and give up Themselves to Carnal and Sinful Pleasure.
1753 A. Nicol Rural Muse 88 For gaming, balling, whoring, drinking, He never had time left for thinking.
1889 G. Meredith Let. 29 May (1970) II. 974 The Dearie is again bouncing about. From two days Balling at Redhill, she is off to the Thames for boating.
2. North American slang. In extended use: the action or process of enjoying oneself or ‘having a ball’ (see ball v.3 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > a merrymaking or convivial occasion > merrymaking or conviviality > [noun]
mirthOE
joyc1275
jollitya1300
joy-makingc1330
good fellowship?c1430
wine and womena1450
junketing1555
merrymake1579
gaiety1612
jovialty1621
joviality1626
mirth-making1638
jovialness1658
jollitry?c1685
goodfellowhood1716
merrymaking1779
conviviality1791
jollification1818
making-merry1823
carnivalizing1841
skite1869
Wein, Weib, und Gesang1885
balling1942
1942 Amer. Mercury July 94/1 Balling, having fun.
1961 R. Bloch Blood runs Cold (1963) 156 Balling for kicks was enough.
1994 Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (Nexis) 25 Nov. e1 Campbell remembers spying [Louis] Armstrong from time to time at the Gladstone's bustling bar... ‘I'd be out balling, and I was always glad to see him.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
ballingn.2
/ˈbɔːlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɔlɪŋ/, /ˈbɑlɪŋ/ 1. The propelling, throwing, or hitting of balls (in various senses). Now rare except as the second element in compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [noun] > throwing missiles > snowballs
ballingc1600
snowballing1861
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 70 Efter greit and diverse baling, and casting of fyre ballis.
1643 R. Baillie Life William Arch-bishop Canterbury vi. 89 Yet Christs Sunday must bee no Sabboth; bowling, balling, and other such games may well consist with all the holinesse it hath.
1788 J. Skinner Christmass Bawing in Caledonian Mag. Sept. 498 Here at the Christmass Ba'ing.
1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes I. xvi. 132 The balling [sc. snowball throwing] ceased, that Annie..might pass in safety.
1884 Daily Gaz. & Bull. (Williamsport, Pa.) 15 July 4/3 There will be some batting and balling worth witnessing.
1986 Courier Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 28 June Initially the Queensland left-hander was mesmerised by the Brazilian's dink shots and slow balling.
2.
a. Formation of or into a ball or balls; (also) the result of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > [noun] > sphericity or globularity > sphere > spherical or globular mass > formation of
conglobation1604
balling1731
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > forging or shaping > forming (molten iron) into balls
balling1881
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > winding > into ball
copping1793
balling1884
1731 Let. in Pract. Husbandman & Planter (1735) II. 77 The Grinding the green Leaves [of woad plants], 4s. 6d. Balling, 3s. 6d... The Carrying of those Balls to dry, and back again [etc.].
1736 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer II. ii. 51 This mixing of the Malt with boiling Water..will prevent its Balling, or gathering together in Heaps.
1830 Mechanics' Mag. 13 420 Clubbing or balling [i.e. clustering of the shot] is supposed by many to occur only with cartridges.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 105 Balling, the aggregation of iron in the puddling..process into balls or loups.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted (ed. 2) 116 One other process follows combing..namely, balling, or making into ‘tops’.
1886 Science 15 Jan. 54/2 The cohesion of snow in our latitudes..is of a plastic, wet, or ‘pasty’ character, as shown in..snowmen, balling on horses' feet, etc.
1922 J. J. Davis Iron Puddler xviii. 110 The stringy sponge of pure iron is separating from the slag. The ‘balling’ of this sponge into three loaves is a task that occupies from ten to fifteen minutes.
1952 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 250/3 Many of our readers ask us how they can prevent or remove the fuzz or balling that occurs on some sweaters.
2005 Sunday Times (Nexis) 24 July (Features section) 4 There is much balling of fists and grimacing.
b. With up.
ΚΠ
1855 W. Truran Iron Manuf. 134/1 The period for balling-up arrives.
1893 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I. at Balling The forming of balls of snow or frozen mud on a horse's hoof: commonly called balling up.
1903 S. Clapin Dict. Americanisms 35 The ‘balling up’ of a horse in soft, new, fallen snow when a snow-ball forms within each shoe.
1974 P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Pract. Man. iii. 40 Keysealing, an accumulation of cuttings around the pipe or balling up of the bit.
1996 Proc. SPIE (Internat. Soc. Optical Engin.) 2691 54 Both wettable and nonwettable materials and their effect on the balling-up process will be presented.
3. Veterinary Medicine. The administration of medicine in the form of a ball (ball n.1 10). Frequently (and in earliest use) attributive: see Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > veterinary procedures > procedures in farriery
fireeOE
discordingc1325
rowelling1601
soil1607
raking1610
roping1611
firing1644
scalding1753
balling1788
1788 J. Clark Treat. Prevention Dis. Horses xii. 318 In order to prevent the fingers, &c., from being hurt by the teeth, an iron instrument covered with cloth (which is known to most grooms under the denomination of a balling iron) is put into the fore-part of the horse's mouth, which keeps it at a proper wideness.
1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 308 Balling.—Take the tongue in the left hand..and push the ball as far as possible over the root of the tongue.
1993 Dairy Guide (Winnipeg) Apr. 22/1 Practices that encourage transfer of fluids between animals include repeated use of needles, use of..contaminated drenching bottles, and balling.
4. Horticulture. The preparation of a tree, shrub, etc., for transportation, by retaining a ball of soil around the roots. Cf. ball v.2 8.
ΚΠ
1860 Cultivator Oct. 310/2 Will you..please explain the process of ‘balling’ a tree for winter transplanting?
1900 B. M. Lelong Culture of Citrus in Calif. 88 Mr. L. C. Waite..has had great success in transplanting trees in their natural state; that is, removing the tree without balling, leaving the roots free from soil.
1989 Horticulture Oct. 32 It was time to dig the root balls and wrap them in burlap and rope. Balling and burlapping, as nurserymen call this, is a laborious procedure, but it offers the surest way to move any tree or shrub..without bruising its roots or exposing it to dehydration.
5. Dense and often fatal crowding of worker bees around a queen. Now rare. Cf. ball v.2 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > queen bee > surrounding queen in a tightly-packed ball
balling1879
1879 A. I. Root ABC Bee Culture 118/2 Sometimes this ‘balling’ kills the queen in a short time, and again she may live while thus fettered for 48 hours, or until they get over their frenzy and let her go.
1926 Chambers's Jrnl. July 434/2 In the ‘balling’ of their queens, bees give an outstanding illustration of their tendency to do foolish things.
6. Horticulture. A condition affecting roses in damp conditions, in which adhesion of the outer petals results in failure of the buds to open. Cf. ball v.2 8b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > damage due to environmental conditions
wind-stroke1657
carbunculation1666
firing1693
fire blast1727
houseburning1757
winter-killing1827
sun scald1850
scalding1865
sunburn1865
wind-blow1921
water stress1922
balling1928
windrock1969
wind-rocking1972
Waldsterben1983
1928 Bull. Garden Club Amer. July 49 Roses subject to mildew or balling are not suited to the climate of the Northwest.
1966 Walla Walla (Washington) Union-Bull. 24 June 16/5 Balling, or the failure of the bud to open due to a glueing together of the outer petals, is more prevalent in damp, foggy weather than in hot, dry summers.
2001 N. J. Ondra Taylor's Guide Roses (rev. ed.) 431 Rainy or humid weather can cause the outer petals of the buds to brown and shrink, preventing the flower from opening properly, a condition called balling.
Compounds
C1. attributive in the names of instruments used for balling (see sense 3), as balling gun, balling iron, †balling pistol, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > veterinary equipment > device for administering pill
balling gun1788
balling iron1788
balling pistol1788
1788balling iron [see sense 3].
1805 T. Boardman Dict. Veterinary Art at Ball In order to prevent the fingers, &c. from being hurt by the teeth, an iron instrument covered with cloth (which is known to most grooms under the denomination of a balling iron) is put into the fore part of the horse's mouth, which keeps it at a proper wideness.
1858 J. Gamgee Veterinarian's Vade Mecum Introd. p. xvi In very narrow mouths, in young animals and in cases of spasmodic contraction of the masseter muscles, balling pistols must be employed.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 220/2 Balling-gun, an instrument for administering medicine rolled into balls to horses.
1918 A. S. Alexander in E. L. D. Seymour Farm Knowl. I. xxvii. 308/1 Place a ‘balling iron’ in the mouth and try to reach and remove the object, an assistant, meanwhile, pressing it upward.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. 43/2 Applied by balling gun directly into the gullet.
2006 Daily Oklahoman (Nexis) 27 Apr. A ‘balling gun’ is used to give the pill to the calf, who swallows it.
C2. In the names of devices used for or involved in balling (see sense 2), as balling-furnace, balling-machine, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > winding > into ball > machine for
balling-machine1822
baller1884
1822 R. S. Harford Brit. Patent 4663 (1856) 2 My improvement..in the manufacture of..iron..consists entirely in covering the cast-iron bottoms of balling, heating, or annealing furnaces with charcoal.
1840 D. Mushet Papers Iron & Steel i. 14 The flue cinder of the balling furnace..on an average contains 30 per cent. of silica.
1869 Eng. Mech. 31 Dec. 387/2 Engravings of a ½ lb. and 1 lb. balling machine.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woollen & Worsted 117 As this balling head moves from side to side quickly, the ball is made by the sliver constantly passing from side to side.
1956 Science 8 June 1025/3 It is necessary to form the powdered iron ore into ½- to ¾-inch pellets in a balling drum.
1994 Technol. & Culture 35 108 The balling furnaces (in which coal, limestone, and saltcake reacted to form crude sodium carbonate as ‘black ash balls’).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
Ballingn.3
/ˈbɔːlɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɔlɪŋ/, /ˈbɑlɪŋ/ Used attributively and (now rarely) in the genitive to designate a scale of densities, or a hydrometer or saccharimeter marked with this scale, originally devised for use in the production of beer, wine, etc., and designed to indicate the sucrose concentration of a solution. Also (as degree Balling, Balling number) indicating a measurement on this scale.
ΚΠ
1878 Johnson's New Universal Cycl. IV. 628/2 When the cane is ripe it is not necessary to filter it over bone-black. Its density is 12° to 14° of Balling's saccharimeter, while the juice of the mill is 17° to 19°.
1896 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 18 888 The easiest way of finding the concentration of glucose solutions with sufficient exactness for this work is by the Brix (or Balling) hydrometer.
1899 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 21 542 This commission..shall elaborate a table showing the degrees Baumé, Brix, Balling, Vivien, etc., which are equivalent to the various indications of the specific gravity hydrometer.
1911 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 50 461 Some [hydrometers] are constructed with Baume's scales, others with Richter and Trolle's scales and those used to test sugar with Balling's and Brix's scales.
1951 Industr. & Engin. Chem. 43 2184/2 The sugar test, made by means of a Brix or Balling hydrometer, gives the concentration of a sucrose solution of the same density as the juice being tested.
1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 486/1 If a hydrometer is available, test the strength of the syrup, which should register 25° Beaumé or 37° Balling.
1988 H. A. Klein Sci. Measurem. xliii. 559 The Brix or Balling saccharimeter shows directly the percentage of sugar (sucrose) by weight in the water solutions in which it is floated.
2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 6 Aug. v. 9/2 The Balling scale is based on the percentage of malt sugar before fermentation, and many Czech beer drinkers specify a number—‘10’, ‘12’ or ‘13’—when ordering. Higher Balling numbers usually mean more alcohol, though not always.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1a1572
n.2c1600n.31878