ball of firen.

Brit.

/ˌbɔːl əv ˈfʌɪə/, U.S.

/ˌbɔl əv ˈfaɪ(ə)r/,

/ˌbɑl əv ˈfaɪ(ə)r/

Inflections: Plural balls of fire.

Forms: see ball n.¹ and of prep. and fire n. and int.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: ball n.¹, of prep., fire n.

Etymology: < ball n.¹ + of prep. + fire n. Compare earlier fireball n.

1. Fire or flame in the shape of a ball; esp. applied descriptively to luminous meteors and ball lightning. Also spec.: the fireball resulting from the explosion of a nuclear device. Cf. fireball n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > ball of fire from nuclear explosion

ball of fire1578

fireball1945

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types

fireball1611

forked lightning1611

summer lightning1679

ball of fire1684

thunder-ball1686

sheet lightning1794

wildfirea1831

heat-lightning1834

globular lightning1843

ribbon lightning1888

beaded lightning1889

bead lightning1899

1578 A. Golding tr. Seneca Conc. Benefyting vii. xxx. f. 120 There are that terme him [sc. the sun] some fyrie stone, or a ball of fyre packed togither by chaunce.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xlviii. 265 His indeuour..was interrupted by fearefull flaming balles of fire, which issued from the Earth.

1684 I. Mather Ess. for Recording Illustrious Providences iii. 74 A black Cloud flying very low, out of it there came a great Ball of Fire, with a terrible crack of Thunder.

1741 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 664/2 About Noon a large Ball of Fire was seen to pass over Canterbury, which was follow'd by a Storm.

1790 D. Sutherland Tour up Straits xiii. 126 Their fears were still increased by observing through the sails, an immense ball of fire floating in the air a-head of the ship.

1869 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1865–8 10 345 The men employed at the foot of the slope saw what they described as a ball of fire coming down.

1894 Times 29 Jan. 4/5 On looking up towards the north..I saw a ball of fire rapidly passing from north to south.

1964 M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–45 ix. 265 Sir Geoffrey [Taylor] also stimulated serious theoretical investigation into the ‘ball of fire’ phenomena in the explosion.

2007 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 11 June e1 He finds that watching his car turn into a ball of fire takes the edge off his depression.

2. figurative.

†a. slang. A glass of brandy. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > brandy > [noun] > a drink of

sneakera1814

ball of fire1821

sopie1863

brandy1884

jollop1920

1821 J. Burrowes Life in St. George's Fields 25 Ball of fire, glass of brandy.

1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 70/2 A ball of fire in popular slang is a glass of brandy, in allusion to the fieriness and pungency of the wretchedly bad spirit sold as brandy to the lower classes.

b. A person of great liveliness or spirit (cf. fire n. 13).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [noun] > vigorous or energetic person > extremely

hummer1681

bearcat1897

ball of fire1900

tear-arse1923

the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > globular

fireball1611

thunder-ball1686

globular lightning1843

ball lightning1846

ball of fire1900

1900 Dial. Notes 2 35 Fire, ball of... Brilliant student, usually with the added idea of great energy.

1953 G. Lamming In Castle of my Skin ii. 21 The white gentl'man..run [sic] like a ball of fire all the way home.

1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred ii. 26 Yes, I know her. Not a ball of fire, is she?

2005 Birmingham (Alabama) News (Nexis) 26 Apr. c4 Lanny is one of those high-energy people, a real young ball of fire.

Phrases

colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.) great balls of fire: used as an exclamation to express amazement or delighted surprise.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > exclamation of wonder [interjection]

ahaa1400

ocha1522

heydaya1529

ah1538

ah me!a1547

fore me!a1547

o me!a1547

gossea1556

ay me!1591

o (also oh) rare!1596

law1598

strangec1670

lack-a-day1695

stap my vitals1697

alackaday1705

prodigious1707

my word1722

(by) golly1743

gosh1757

Dear me!1805

Madre de Dios1815

Great Jove!1819

I snum1825

crikey1826

my eye1826

crackey1830

snakes1839

Great Scott1852

holy mackerel!1855

whoops1870

this beats my grandmother1883

wow1892

great balls of fire1893

oo-er1909

zowiec1913

crimes1929

yowa1943

wowee1963

Madre mia!1964

yikes1971

whee1978

chingas1984

1893 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 21 Sept. ‘Great balls of fire!’ he exclaimed... ‘Can you tell me what that is?’

1928 C. McKay Home to Harlem 17 Great balls of fire! Looka here! See mah luck!

1957 ‘Jack Hammer’ & O. Blackwell Great Balls of Fire (sheet music) 4 Oh, baby, you're drivin' me crazy, Goodness gracious, Great Balls of Fire!

2010 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 21 Jan. But—great balls of fire!—here's a way to save your beloved '80s VHS movies.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	ball of fire
释义	ball of firen. Brit. /ˌbɔːl əv ˈfʌɪə/, U.S. /ˌbɔl əv ˈfaɪ(ə)r/, /ˌbɑl əv ˈfaɪ(ə)r/ Inflections: Plural balls of fire. Forms: see ball n.¹ and of prep. and fire n. and int. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: ball n.¹, of prep., fire n. Etymology: < ball n.¹ + of prep. + fire n. Compare earlier fireball n. 1. Fire or flame in the shape of a ball; esp. applied descriptively to luminous meteors and ball lightning. Also spec.: the fireball resulting from the explosion of a nuclear device. Cf. fireball n. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > ball of fire from nuclear explosion ball of fire1578 fireball1945 the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types fireball1611 forked lightning1611 summer lightning1679 ball of fire1684 thunder-ball1686 sheet lightning1794 wildfirea1831 heat-lightning1834 globular lightning1843 ribbon lightning1888 beaded lightning1889 bead lightning1899 1578 A. Golding tr. Seneca Conc. Benefyting vii. xxx. f. 120 There are that terme him [sc. the sun] some fyrie stone, or a ball of fyre packed togither by chaunce. 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xlviii. 265 His indeuour..was interrupted by fearefull flaming balles of fire, which issued from the Earth. 1684 I. Mather Ess. for Recording Illustrious Providences iii. 74 A black Cloud flying very low, out of it there came a great Ball of Fire, with a terrible crack of Thunder. 1741 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 664/2 About Noon a large Ball of Fire was seen to pass over Canterbury, which was follow'd by a Storm. 1790 D. Sutherland Tour up Straits xiii. 126 Their fears were still increased by observing through the sails, an immense ball of fire floating in the air a-head of the ship. 1869 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1865–8 10 345 The men employed at the foot of the slope saw what they described as a ball of fire coming down. 1894 Times 29 Jan. 4/5 On looking up towards the north..I saw a ball of fire rapidly passing from north to south. 1964 M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–45 ix. 265 Sir Geoffrey [Taylor] also stimulated serious theoretical investigation into the ‘ball of fire’ phenomena in the explosion. 2007 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 11 June e1 He finds that watching his car turn into a ball of fire takes the edge off his depression. 2. figurative. †a. slang. A glass of brandy. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > brandy > [noun] > a drink of sneakera1814 ball of fire1821 sopie1863 brandy1884 jollop1920 1821 J. Burrowes Life in St. George's Fields 25 Ball of fire, glass of brandy. 1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 70/2 A ball of fire in popular slang is a glass of brandy, in allusion to the fieriness and pungency of the wretchedly bad spirit sold as brandy to the lower classes. b. A person of great liveliness or spirit (cf. fire n. 13). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [noun] > vigorous or energetic person > extremely hummer1681 bearcat1897 ball of fire1900 tear-arse1923 the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > globular fireball1611 thunder-ball1686 globular lightning1843 ball lightning1846 ball of fire1900 1900 Dial. Notes 2 35 Fire, ball of... Brilliant student, usually with the added idea of great energy. 1953 G. Lamming In Castle of my Skin ii. 21 The white gentl'man..run [sic] like a ball of fire all the way home. 1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred ii. 26 Yes, I know her. Not a ball of fire, is she? 2005 Birmingham (Alabama) News (Nexis) 26 Apr. c4 Lanny is one of those high-energy people, a real young ball of fire. Phrases colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.) great balls of fire: used as an exclamation to express amazement or delighted surprise. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > exclamation of wonder [interjection] ahaa1400 ocha1522 heydaya1529 ah1538 ah me!a1547 fore me!a1547 o me!a1547 gossea1556 ay me!1591 o (also oh) rare!1596 law1598 strangec1670 lack-a-day1695 stap my vitals1697 alackaday1705 prodigious1707 my word1722 (by) golly1743 gosh1757 Dear me!1805 Madre de Dios1815 Great Jove!1819 I snum1825 crikey1826 my eye1826 crackey1830 snakes1839 Great Scott1852 holy mackerel!1855 whoops1870 this beats my grandmother1883 wow1892 great balls of fire1893 oo-er1909 zowiec1913 crimes1929 yowa1943 wowee1963 Madre mia!1964 yikes1971 whee1978 chingas1984 1893 Hawarden (Iowa) Independent 21 Sept. ‘Great balls of fire!’ he exclaimed... ‘Can you tell me what that is?’ 1928 C. McKay Home to Harlem 17 Great balls of fire! Looka here! See mah luck! 1957 ‘Jack Hammer’ & O. Blackwell Great Balls of Fire (sheet music) 4 Oh, baby, you're drivin' me crazy, Goodness gracious, Great Balls of Fire! 2010 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 21 Jan. But—great balls of fire!—here's a way to save your beloved '80s VHS movies. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1578
随便看	brass-foundry brass-fronted brass-handled brass-hatted brass-headed brass-helmeted brass-hilted brass-hooved brass-latten brass-leaf brass-like brass-man brass-mounted brass-necked brass-plated brass-plater brass-powder brass-rag brass-renting brass-roved brass-rubber brass-rubbing brass-scaly brass-shapen brass-smith