ball¹ /böl/

1. Anything spherical or nearly so
2. A rounded or matted mass
3. Any rounded protuberant part of the body, eg the ball of the foot
4. A round or oval object used in sports (of varying size, shape and composition according to the sport)
5. A pass of the ball in sports such as soccer and rugby
6. A delivery of the ball at cricket
7. A pitch thrown out of the strike zone (baseball)
8. A game played with a ball, esp (US) baseball or football
9. A bullet or solid missile projected from a gun, cannon, etc
10. A spherical mass of wound yarn, string, etc
11. (usu pl) a testicle (vulgar sl)
12. The eyeball
13. A bolus for a horse
14. A spherical cake of soap (obsolete)
15. (in pl) nonsense (also interjection; vulgar)
16. (in pl) a balls-up (vulgar sl)
17. (in pl) guts, courage (slang, esp US)

1. To form into a ball
2. To clog
3. To entangle
4. (of swarming bees) to cluster round (the queen)
5. (usu of a man) to have sexual intercourse with (vulgar sl, orig US)

1. To gather into a ball
2. To clog

balled adjective

Formed into a ball

ballˈing noun

1. Forming into a ball
2. Snowballing
3. (Scot ba'ing /böˈing/, also ba'spiel /böˈspēl/) a periodical game of football played by the population of a town in the streets and sometimes in the river

ballˈsiness noun

ballsy /bölˈzi/ adjective (slang, esp US)

Gutsy, tough and courageous

ballˈ-and-clawˈ see claw-and-ball under claw

ballˈ-barrow noun

A wheelbarrow with a ball-shaped wheel

ball-bearˈing noun

1. A device for lessening friction by making a revolving part turn on loose steel balls
2. One of the balls so used

ballˈ-boy or ballˈ-girl noun (sport)

A boy or girl who collects balls that are out of play, supplies balls to the players, etc

ballˈ-breaker or (US) ballˈ-buster noun (vulgar sl)

1. A person, task or job, etc that is excessively demanding
2. A woman who is ruthless, demanding or demoralizing in her treatment of men

ballˈ-breaking or -busting noun and adjective

ballˈclay noun (geology)

A fine-textured highly plastic clay used for ceramics

ballˈcock noun

The stopcock of a cistern regulated by a floating ball that rises and falls with the water

ballˈ-flower noun (architecture)

An ornament in Decorated Gothic, resembling a ball within a globular flower

ball game noun

1. Any game played with a ball, esp (US) baseball or football
2. A situation, as in a whole new ball game (informal)

ballˈhawk noun

( N Am inf)A sportsman who has a talent for gaining possession of the ball

ball lightning noun

A slowly moving luminous ball occasionally seen during a thunderstorm

ball mill noun (engineering)

A horizontal cylindrical container in which a substance is ground by rotation with steel or ceramic balls

ball park noun (chiefly US)

1. A baseball field
2. A sphere of activity
3. The area designated for the landing of a spacecraft (in the right ball park (informal and figurative) more or less correct)

ballˈpark adjective (orig US)

Approximate, esp in the phrase ballpark figures

ballˈpeen hammer noun

A hammer with a rounded peen, used esp for beating metal

ballˈ-player noun

1. A player (esp of football) with outstanding ball-control skills
2. A baseball player (N American)

ballˈpoint or ballpoint pen noun

A fountain pen with a tiny ball rotating against an inking cartridge as its writing tip

ballˈ-proof adjective

Proof against balls discharged from firearms

ballsˈ-aching adjective (slang)

Tedious

ballsed-up, balls-up see balls up below.

balls-outˈ adjective (slang)

Performed in an aggressive and uncompromising manner

ball valve noun

A non-return valve closed by a ball forced into an aperture

ball and chain

1. A means of hobbling a prisoner consisting of an iron ball chained to an ankle
2. A severe encumbrance
3. One's wife (slang)

ball-and-socket joint (physiology and engineering)

A joint formed of a ball partly enclosed in a cup-shaped cavity, allowing rotation on various axes

ball of fire

1. A lively, dynamic person
2. A glass of brandy (informal)

balls up (vulgar sl)

1. To make a muddle or mess of
2. To throw into confusion (ballsˈ-up noun; ballsedˈ-up adjective)

ball up

1. To clog
2. To make a mess of (slang; ballˈup noun (US); balledˈ-up adjective)

have someone by the balls (vulgar sl)

To have someone at one's mercy or in a helpless state

keep the ball rolling

To keep things going

make a balls or balls-up of (vulgar sl)

To do badly, make a thorough mess of

on the ball (informal)

1. Properly in touch with the situation
2. On the alert

play ball (informal)

To co-operate

• castor beans
• castoreum
• castoreums
• castories
• castor oil
• castor-oil plant
• castors
• castor sugar
• castory
• cast out
• castral
• castrametation
• castrametations
• castrate
• castrated
• castrates
• castrati
• castrating
• castration
• castrations
• castrato
• castratos
• casts
• cast someone's water
• cast-steel