a spherical or approximately spherical body or shape; sphere: He rolled the piece of paper into a ball.
a round or roundish body, of various sizes and materials, either hollow or solid, for use in games, as baseball, football, tennis, or golf.
a game played with a ball, especially baseball: The boys are out playing ball.
Baseball. a pitched ball, not swung at by the batter, that does not pass over home plate between the batter's shoulders and knees.
Military.
a solid, usually spherical projectile for a cannon, rifle, pistol, etc., as distinguished from a shell.
projectiles, especially bullets, collectively.
any part of a thing, especially of the human body, that is rounded or protuberant: the ball of the thumb.
a round mass of food, as of chopped meat, dough, or candy.
Slang: Vulgar.Usually balls.a testicle.
balls,Slang: Vulgar.
boldness; courage; brashness: She had the balls to ignore her critics and stand up for what was right.
nonsense (often used as an interjection).
bolus (def. 1).
Horticulture. a compact mass of soil covering the roots of an uprooted tree or other plant.
Literary. a planetary or celestial body, especially the earth.
Mathematics. (in a metric space) the set of points whose distance from the zero element is less than, or less than or equal to, a specified number.
verb (used with object)
to make into a ball (sometimes followed by up): The children were balling up snow to make a snowman.
to wind into balls: to ball cotton.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.
verb (used without object)
to form or gather into a ball: When the spun sugar balls, the candy has cooked sufficiently.
Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.
Verb Phrases
ball up,Slang. to make or become utterly confused; muddle: The records had been all balled up by inefficient file clerks.
Idioms for ball
ball the jack, Slang.
to act with speed.
to stake everything on one attempt.
carry the ball, to assume the responsibility; bear the burden: You can always count on him to carry the ball in an emergency.
drop the ball, to make a mistake or miss an opportunity at a critical moment.
keep the ball rolling, to continue or give renewed vigor to an activity already under way: When their interest lagged, he tried to keep the ball rolling.
on the ball,
alert and efficient or effective: If you don't get on the ball, you'll be fired.
indicating intelligence or ability: The tests show your students don't have much on the ball. The new manager has a lot on the ball.
play ball,
to begin or continue playing a game.
to start or continue any action.
to work together; cooperate: union leaders suspected of playing ball with racketeers.
run with the ball, to assume responsibility or work enthusiastically: If management approves the concept, we'll run with the ball.
start the ball rolling, to put into operation; begin: The recreation director started the ball rolling by having all the participants introduce themselves.
Origin of ball
1
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English bal, balle, probably from Old English beall (unattested), from Germanic ballaz (unattested); compare Old Norse bǫllr, Old High German bal, ballo, balla, German Ball, Dutch bal; perhaps akin to Latin follis “leather bag, bellows”; see ballocks
a large, usually lavish, formal party featuring social dancing and sometimes given for a particular purpose, as to introduce debutantes or benefit a charitable organization.
Informal. a thoroughly good time: Have a ball on your vacation!
Origin of ball
2
1625–35; <French bal, noun derivative of baler (now baller) to dance <Late Latin ballāre<Greek (Magna Graecia) ballízein to dance
Definition for ball (3 of 3)
Ball
[ bawl ]
/ bɔl /
noun
George W(ild·man)[wahyld-muhn], /ˈwaɪld mən/, 1909–1994, U.S. lawyer, investment banker, and government official.
John, died 1381, English priest: one of the leaders of Wat Tyler's peasants' revolt in 1381.
A ball on a football field will have more possible future positions than a ball traveling along rails, for example.
How special relativity can help AI predict the future|Will Heaven|August 28, 2020|MIT Technology Review
When he wasn’t putting the ball in the bucket himself, Dončić found time to snag seven rebounds, dish out nine dimes and snag three steals.
Monster Games In The NBA Playoffs Aren’t Automatically Translating To Wins|Jared Dubin|August 26, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Microbes huddled in the heart of balls of Deinococcus bacteria as thin as five sheets of paper have survived on the exterior of the International Space Station for three years, researchers report August 26 in Frontiers in Microbiology.
If bacteria band together, they can survive for years in space|Jonathan Lambert|August 26, 2020|Science News
Minor League Baseball plans to soon begin using TrackMan to call balls and strikes for its games.
A robot referee can really keep its ‘eye’ on the ball|Kathryn Hulick|August 20, 2020|Science News For Students
In this area, small planetary objects hang out while warming up and transitioning from outer solar system ice balls to inner solar system comets with their long tails.
In a first, astronomers spotted a space rock turning into a comet|Lisa Grossman|August 18, 2020|Science News
One of the kids had a ball in his hand, and Cuomo took it and tossed it back and forth to an eight year old.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Instead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball gets in the hole, the screen shifts to reveal the next hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
An arrow appears indicating the direction you will launch your ball.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball goes off the screen, it teleports back to the starting position.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But it was too late: the finger had pulled the trigger and the ball sped true.
To Leeward|F. Marion Crawford
An Army man tackled me on their 25-yard line, after I had taken the ball down the field for nearly a touchdown.
Football Days|William H. Edwards
A brisk trade was soon opened; the articles in greatest request being powder and ball.
Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847|John Rae
Mr. Brandon raised his hand, and a ball of bunting at the topmast fluttered out into the Cross of St. George.
Daughters of the Revolution and Their Times|Charles Carleton Coffin
After the dance had continued about an hour, the two ladies, who were apprehensive of catching cold, moved to break up the ball.
The Vicar of Wakefield|Oliver Goldsmith
British Dictionary definitions for ball (1 of 3)
ball1
/ (bɔːl) /
noun
a spherical or nearly spherical body or massa ball of wool
a round or roundish body, either solid or hollow, of a size and composition suitable for any of various games: football, golf, billiards, etc
a ball propelled in a particular way in a sporta high ball
any of various rudimentary games with a ballto play ball
cricketa single delivery of the ball by the bowler to the batsman
baseballa single delivery of the ball by a pitcher outside certain limits and not swung at by the batter
a solid nonexplosive projectile for a firearmCompare shell (def. 6)
such projectiles collectively
any more or less rounded part or protuberancethe ball of the foot
slanga testicleSee balls
vet science another word for bolus
horticulturethe hard mass of roots and earth removed with the rest of the plant during transplanting
ball of muscleAustraliana very strong, fit, or forceful person
have the ball at one's feetto have the chance of doing something
keep the ball rollingto maintain the progress of a project, plan, etc
on the ballinformalalert; informed
play ballinformalto cooperate
set the ball rollingorstart the ball rollingto open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
the ball is in your courtyou are obliged to make the next move
verb
(tr)to make, form, wind, etc, into a ball or ballsto ball wool
(intr)to gather into a ball or balls
taboo, slang, mainlyUSto copulate (with)
Word Origin for ball
C13: from Old Norse böllr; related to Old High German balla, Italian palla French balle
usage for ball
Sense 9 of this word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use
British Dictionary definitions for ball (2 of 3)
ball2
/ (bɔːl) /
noun
a social function for dancing, esp one that is lavish or formal
informala very enjoyable time (esp in the phrase have a ball)
Word Origin for ball
C17: from French bal (n), from Old French baller (vb), from Late Latin ballāre to dance, from Greek ballizein
British Dictionary definitions for ball (3 of 3)
Ball
/ (bɔːl) /
noun
John . died 1381, English priest: executed as one of the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt (1381)