English
ball
see also: Ball
Pronunciation
  • (British) enPR: bôl, IPA: /bɔːl/
  • (America) IPA: /bɔl/
  • (cot-caught) IPA: /bɑl/
Etymology 1

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla ("round object, ball") or Old Norse bǫllr, both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô ("ball"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰélō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-.

Noun

ball

  1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
    a ball of spittle; a fecal ball
    1. A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
      a ball of wool; a ball of twine
  2. (mathematics) Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.
    1. (mathematics) In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the volume bounded by a sphere.
    2. (mathematics) The set of points in a metric space of any number of dimensions lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point.
    3. (mathematics) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point.
  3. (ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.
    1. A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
    2. (uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.
      • 1659, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, England’s Confusion‎, London, page 7:
        […] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […]
      • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC ↗, page 294 ↗:
        I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion.
      • 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons‎, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148:
        […] some headstrong Maroons were using a soldier of Captain Craskell’s ill, and compelling him to write to his commander, that it was too late to do any thing good, and that they wanted nothing, having got plenty of powder and ball […]
      • 1851 November 13, Herman Melville, chapter 1, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC ↗, page 1 ↗:
        This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship.
  4. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body.
    the ball of the thumb
    1. (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
  5. The globe; the earthly sphere.
    • c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World
      What, though in solemn Silence, all / Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!
    • 1717, Alexander Pope, Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady:
      Thus, if eternal Justice rules the ball, / Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall;
  6. (sports, countable) An object that is the focus of many sports and games, in which it may be thrown, caught, kicked, bounced, rolled, chased, retrieved, hit with an instrument, spun, etc., usually roughly spherical or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game
    1. (uncountable) Any sport or game involving a ball; its play, literally or figuratively.
      The children were playing ball on the beach. George played his college ball at Stanford.
    2. (baseball, countable) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
    3. (pinball, countable) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
      If you get to a million points, you get another ball.
    4. (cricket, countable) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
    5. (originally, soccer, countable) a kick (or hit in e.g. field hockey) of the ball towards where one or more teammates is expected to be. (Distinguished from a pass by a longer distance travelled or less specific target point.)
  7. (mildly, vulgar, slang, usually, in the plural) A testicle.
    1. (in the plural) Nonsense.
      That’s a load of balls, and you know it!
    2. (in the plural) Courage.
      I doubt he’s got the balls to tell you off.
  8. (printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
  9. (farriery, historical) A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
    • 1842, James White, A compendium of the veterinary art:
      The laxative alterative has not this advantage, the aloes, of which it is composed, being extremely bitter, and therefore requiring to be given in the form of a ball.
  10. (slang, countable, uncountable, singular only) One thousand US dollars.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

ball (balls, present participle balling; simple past and past participle balled)

  1. (transitive) To form or wind into a ball.
    Synonyms: roll up, wad
    to ball cotton
  2. (metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
  3. (transitive, US, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:copulate with
  4. (ambitransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet or skis, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
    the horse balls
    the snow balls
  5. (slang, usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
  6. (university slang) To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Short for blackball.)
  7. (nonstandard, slang) To play basketball.
    fuck it, we ball
    (Internet?) slang, used to indicate general perseverance
  8. (transitive) To punish by affixing a ball and chain.
    • 1865, Camp Sumpter, Andersonville National Historic Site, Rules and Regulations of the Prison:
      any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day.
  9. (transitive) Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat.
Translations Interjection
  1. (sport)
  2. (Australian rules football)
Etymology 2

From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler, from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō.

Noun

ball (plural balls)

  1. A formal dance.
    We still have pictures from the ball we had in August 2008.
  2. (informal) A very enjoyable time.
    Synonyms: blast, whale of a time
    I had a ball at that concert.
  3. A competitive event among young African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ people in which prizes are awarded for drag and similar performances. See ball culture.
Related terms Translations
Ball
Etymology

Multiple theories and origins.

  • From a short form of the Middle English - given name Baldwin.
  • A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball).
  • From the Old Norse - given name Balle.
  • A habitational surname for a person from Ball, Cornwall, from Cornish Pelen.
Proper noun
  1. Surname.
  2. A town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
  3. A hamlet in Egloshayle, on the eastern outskirts of (OS grid ref SX0073).


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