▪ I. ball, n.1
(bɔːl)
Forms: 3–7 bal, 4–6 balle, 6 baule, bawle, 5– ball.
[ME. bal (inflected ball-e, -es), a. ON. böllr (pron. bɔllr; cf. OSw. baller, Sw. båll):—OTeut. *ballu-z, (whence probably MHG. bal, ball-es, MDu. bal). Cogn. with OHG. ballo, pallo, MHG. balle:—OTeut. *ballon (wk. masc.), and OHG. ballâ, pallâ, MHG. balle:—OTeut. *ballôn (wk. fem.). No OE. representative of any of these is known. (The answering forms in OE. would have been *beallu, -a, -e: cf. bealluc, ballock.) If ball- was native in Teutonic, it may have been cognate with L. foll-is in sense of a ‘thing blown up or inflated.’ In the later ME. spelling balle, the word coincided graphically with F. balle ‘ball’ and ‘bale,’ which has hence been erroneously assumed to be its source. Cf. bale n.3]
I. A globe or globular body.
1. a. generally.
| a 1300 Fragm. 89 in Wright Pop. Sc. 134 As me mai bi a candle i-seo, that is bisides a balle, That ȝeveth liȝt on hire hal⁓vendel. c 1340 Cursor M. (Fairf.) 521 His heued ys rouned as a balle. 1340 Ayenb. 179 Þe þyef..þrauþ þane little bal in-to þe hondes þrote þet he ne ssel naȝt berke. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1756 He rolleth vnder foot as dooth a bal. 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P. R. xvi. lxxx. (1495) 579 Wyth balles of leed men assaye depnesse. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 167 Turned into a round heauie baule. 1626 Bacon Sylva §696 The Wormes with many feet which round themselves into Balls. 1716–8 Lady Montague Lett. 38 I. 150 The..tents..are adorned on the top with guilded balls. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv. xvii. Wks. 1846 I. 107 A ball must strike the earth before it can rebound. 1831 R. Blakey Free Will 151 To attend to them all at one time as jugglers do with their balls. 1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Ab. 242 A short, stout ball of a woman. |
b. ball and chain, a heavy metal ball secured by a chain to the leg of a prisoner or convict, to prevent escape. Also
chain and ball (
s.v. chain n. 2 a).
U.S.| 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 189 The threat of the Calaboose, or the ‘ball and chain’. 1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West vii. 132 Those who had fined and imprisoned culprits, or sent them to work with ball and chain. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 94 They put a ball an' chain to one of his ankles an' sent him out with the nigger gang. |
2. spec. Any planetary or celestial body,
esp. the earth, ‘the globe.’ Now always with qualification, ‘terrestrial,’ ‘earthly,’ etc.
| a 1300 Fragm. 255 in Wright Pop. Sc. 137 Urthe is amidde the see a lute bal and round. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts xvii. 24 (R.) The heauenly balles and circles aboue. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iii. ii. 41 From vnder this Terrestrial Ball. 1697 Dryden Virg. Eclog. vi. 52 This goodly Ball. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 465 What, though in solemn silence all Move round the dark terrestrial ball. 1717 Pope Elegy Unfort. Lady 35 If eternal Justice rules the ball. 1834 Tennyson Two Voices 35 No compound of this earthly ball. |
† 3. The golden ‘orb’ borne together with the sceptre as the emblem of sovereignty.
Obs.| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) (Mor. Wisd.) i. Argt., In his left hand a ball of gold with a crosse þer-vpon. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i 277 The Scepter, and the Ball, the Sword, the Mase, the Crowne Imperiall. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 149 A young Man, that..ought to hold in his hand the Ball of a Kingdome. 1715 Pope Ep. Miss Blount, Thus vanish sceptres, coronets, and balls. |
4. a. A globular body to play with, which is thrown, kicked, knocked, or batted about, in various games, as hand-ball, foot-ball, tennis, golf, cricket, croquet, billiards, etc. It varies greatly in size and material according to the game.
(This was perhaps the earliest sense in English.)
| 1205 Lay. 24703 Summe heo driuen balles wide ȝeond þa feldes. c 1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2004 With that bal togider they plaid. c 1340 Cursor M. (Fairf.) 13139 His broþer doghter..come playand hir wiþ a balle. 1483 Cath. Angl. 19/1 Balle, pila. 1530 Palsgr. 196/2 Ball to play at tennes with—estevf. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 35 Thou hast striken the ball, vnder the lyne. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 261 When we haue matcht our Rackets to these Balles. 1611 Bible Isa. xxii. 18 He will surely..tosse thee like a ball. 1721 Bailey, Cricket, a sort of Play with Bats and a Ball. 1807 Crabbe Village i. Wks. 1823 I. 16 The flying ball, The bat, the wicket, were his labours all. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. 58/2 The ball flies off his bat to all parts of the field. |
See also billiard-, cricket-, foot-ball, etc.
b. A game played with a ball (
spec. in
U.S., baseball); also an annual contest at hand-ball, played on a holiday in most of the towns and villages on the Scottish Border.
| c 1350 Life of Cuthbert in Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii, He pleyde atte balle with the Children that his fellowes were. 1598 Stow Survey 68 After dinner all the youthes goe into the fieldes to play at the ball. 1675 Cotton Scoffer Scoft 50 To play at Cat, at Trap, or Ball. 1831 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club. I. 45 (Article) The game of Ball as played in Dunse on Fastern's Eve. 1847 Tennyson Princess iii. 199 Quoit, tennis, ball—no games? 1868 H. Chadwick Base Ball 162 The National Game of ball of Americans. 1896 Knowles & Morton Baseball 71 He saw ball played by the American Students. |
c. A throw, toss, or ‘delivery’ of the ball in certain games,
esp. in
Cricket, the particulars of its course and effect being included in the notion.
no ball in
Cricket, one unfairly bowled;
wide ball, one not properly within the batsman's reach;
the balls are over:
cf. over adv. 5 c.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 19 Balle alipatus qui iaculatur pilam. 1773 Gentl. Mag. Nov. 568 The modern way Of blocking every ball at play. 1819 Miss Mitford Village (1848) I. 177 That brilliant hitter..gained eight from two successive balls. 1837 Dickens Pickw. vii, He blocked the doubtful balls, missed the bad ones, took the good ones. 1850 Cricket Manual 54 The names of the bowlers who bowl ‘wide balls’ or ‘no balls’..to be placed on the score. 1870 New Sporting Mag. LX. 271 ‘The Balls are over.’ Some of the umpires of the present day corrupt the four words..into ‘Ver’. 1894 E. B. Y. Christian At Sign of Wkt. 75 For him who falls, His hundred made..There need no tears,..‘the balls Are over’ now. |
5. a. A missile (originally always spherical, now also conical or cylindrical with convex top) projected from an engine of war, in early times from catapults and crossbows, and now from cannons, muskets, pistols, and other fire-arms. In artillery, a solid as distinguished from a hollow projectile; these are of iron, but formerly were often of stone; the balls fired from small-arms are also called
bullets, and are made of lead.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. I. 297 Þe men of þat lond..vseþ balles and alblastres. 1588 Ord. King's Fleet in Harl. Misc. (1810) I. 118 The artillery..being all charged with their balls. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 17 The fatall Balls of murthering Basiliskes. a 1631 Donne Epigr. (1652) 100 Threatening balls in showres of murther fly. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 518 Mineral and Stone..to found their Engins and their Balls Of missive ruin. 1692 Diary Siege Lymerick 28 March out with their Arms, Baggage, Drums beating, Ball in Mouth..Colours flying. 1718 Lady Montagu Lett. 49 II. 58 Tombs of fine marble..daily lessened by the prodigious balls that the Turks make from them for their cannon. 1812 Examiner 19 Oct. 659/1 More than 600,000 balls and shells. 1858 W. Ellis Vis. Madagascar xii. 330 A round stone, like a large cannon-ball. |
b. collectively.
| 1584 Sanders in Arber Eng. Garner II. 16 The King had discharged three shots without ball. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4702/2 The Powder, small Ball, and small Arms remaining in the Garrisons. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 479 A body of troops..was ordered to load with ball. |
6. a. Pyrotechny and
Mil. A globular case or shell filled with combustibles, intended to set buildings on fire, or to give light, smoke, etc.;
e.g. fire-balls,
smoke-balls,
stink-balls.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Smoak, or dark Balls..fill the air with smoak, and..prevent discoveries. Sky Balls..bursting like rockets, afford a spectacle of decoration. |
b. Phr.
ball of fire: (
a)
slang, a glass of brandy; (
b)
= fire-ball; (
c)
fig., a person of great liveliness or spirit (
cf. fire n. 13).
| 1821 J. Burrowes Life in St. George's Fields 25 Ball of fire, glass of brandy. 1889 Barrère & 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. 1953 G. Lamming In Castle of Skin ii. 21 The white gentl'man..run [sic] like a ball of fire all the way home. 1958 J. D. MacDonald Executioners (1959) x. 159 You haven't been a ball of fire around here lately. 1960 N. Mitford Don't tell Alfred ii. 26 Yes, I know her. Not a ball of fire, is she? 1964 M. M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–1945 ix. 265 Sir Geoffrey [Taylor] also stimulated serious theoretical investigation into the ‘ball of fire’ phenomena in the explosion. |
7. A globular body of wood, ivory, or other substance, used in voting by
ballot (
q.v.), each voter being provided with one black and one white. Hence
to black-ball,
q.v.| 1580 North Plutarch (1656) 927 The Judges..would never take their bals to ballot against him. 1620 Reliq. Wotton. (1672) 309 In the first Ballotation..the Balls were equal. a 1700 Dryden (J.) For ev'ry number'd captive put a ball Into an urn: three only black be there, The rest, all white, are safe. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4543/1 They took a Boy to draw the Balls. 1884 C. Dickens Dict. Lond. 25/1 One black ball in three excludes. |
† 8. In the phrase
ball in the hood, applied in grim humour to the head (partly
fig. from 4).
Obs.| c 1300 K. Alis. 6481 Mony of his knyghtis gode Loren theo balles in heore hode. c 1325 Cœur de L. 4523 Men of armes the swerdes outbreyde; Balles out of hoodes, soone they pleyde. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 17, I shrew thi balle under thi hode. c 1500 Rob. Hood (Ritson) i. 1454 He ne shall lese his hede, That is the best ball in his hode. |
9. ball of the eye:
a. orig. the ‘apple’ or pupil;
b. now, the eye itself within the lids and socket.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 21 Balle of þe ye, Pupilla. 1530 Palsgr. 196/2 Ball, of the eye, La prunelle de loyl. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 157 The balles of his eyes shall see nought but darknesse. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V., iii. ii. 117. 1671 Milton Samson 94 Such a tender ball as the eye. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 145 ¶2 The Balls of Sight are so form'd, that one Man's Eyes are Spectacles to another to read his Heart with. 1808 Scott Marm. ii. xxii, Raising his sightless balls to heaven. 1870 Bryant Homer xiv. II. 71 Him Peneleus smote..In the eye's socket, forcing out the ball. |
II. A globular or rounded mass of material.
10. A globular or rounded mass of any substance.
a. gen. (
cf. snowball).
| 1205 Lay. 17443 Nu ȝe maȝen heom habben swulche veðerene balles. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2003 Ballis..Of wex and tow. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 199 With two pitch bals stucke in her face for eyes. 1648 Herrick Hesper. Wks. 1869 II. 328 Balls of cowslips, daisie rings. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict., A musk ball, or sweet ball, Pastillus. 1875 Buckland Log-Bk. 204 A living ball of Crabs. |
b. spec. A spherical piece of soap. (Not now used specifically).
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 25 As a Barber wasteth his Ball in the water. 1611 Bible Susanna i. 17 Then she said to her maids, bring me oil & washinge balls. 1624 Fletcher Rule a Wife iii. i. 286 Balls..to wash out your stains. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell), Mattiacæ pilæ..soap-balls, washing-balls. |
c. A globular mass formed by winding thread, a clew or clue. L.
glomus.
| 1572 J. Jones Bathe Buckstone 12 b, The wind baule, or yarne ball. 1841 Marryat Poacher xv, You had a ball of twine. 1884 Black in Harper's Mag. May 951/1 She got her knitting-needles and a ball of wool. |
d. Metallurgy. A mass of puddled iron formed by the workman into a pasty lump, to be hammered and rolled when taken from the furnace.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 334 When the iron is deprived of the carbon..the furnaceman rolls it up into balls of one half or three quarters of a cwt. each. 1855 W. Truran Iron Manuf. 134/1 After 8 or 9 minutes raking of the iron, now in the condition of pasty lumps,..the puddler commences the formation of the puddle balls. 1875 [see bloom n.2]. 1892 F. Joynson Iron & Steel Maker 89 The worker of the puddler is..confined to..the production of the lumps or masses of metal technically called ‘balls’, and sometimes, though rarely in this country, ‘blooms’. |
e. = clod n. 3 c.
| 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 239/1 The tree will then be ready to lift if carefully prized up from beneath the ball. 1885 G. Nicholson Dict. Gardening I. 153/2 Ball. This term is used in reference to the roots and mass of earth as they are moulded into form...The masses of roots and earth which..must be taken intact when removing the plants, are also termed Balls. 1924 H. H. Thomas Compl. Amat. Gardener iii. 18 The larger the ‘ball’ the more quickly will a tree or plant recover after having been transplanted. |
11. Med. A bolus; medicine in the form of a ball or large pill. Now only in
Vet. Med.| 1576 Earl of Oxford Love Quest. in Fuller Worthies iv. (1872) 58 His bitter ball is sugred blisse. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5831/4 The Cordial Horse-Balls, at 4s. per Pound. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., s.v., We meet with balls for the tooth-ach. 1877 Stonehenge Horse xxxii. 581 Medicine may be given to the horse..in the solid form as a ball. |
12. (from F.
balle) A rounded package, a
bale.
| 1583 J. Newbery in Arber Eng. Garner III. 172 Hath sent you in the Emanuel a ball of Nutmegs. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxxvii, Seven balls of bullets [sept balles de boullets] at a dozen the ball. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 389 Fifteen balls of rosemary, the ball weighing 750 pounds. |
III. Objects or parts with rounded outline.
13. A kind of small cushion, leather-covered or formed of composition, used by printers for inking the type. Now superseded by the roller.
| 1611 Cotgr., Pompette d' imprimeur, a Printers Pumpet-ball..wherewith hee beates, or layes Inke on, the Formes. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Ball among Printers a kind of wooden tunnel stuffed with wool, contained in a cover of sheep's skin..with which the ink is applied. 1824 J. Johnsom Typogr. II. 531 About the year 1815, composition balls were introduced at Weybridge. 1830 Edin. Encycl. XIII. 46 When the printing balls are applied, the ink is received by the oiled parts of the stone. |
14. A spherical or rounded part of various machines;
e.g. the ball of a harrow;
of a cart-wheel (the nave or hub);
of a pendulum (the bob).
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (1856) 107 These rammers are made of old everinges, harrowe balls, or such like thinges as have holes. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 199 The ball of a Cart-wheel; arbuscula. |
15. a. Any rounded protuberant part of the body; now chiefly applied to those at the base of the thumb and great toe;
formerly, also a callosity on the hand or foot.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 19/1 A Balle of þ⊇ hand or of fote, callus. 1530 Palsgr. 196/2 Ball of the cheke, pommeav de la jove. 1547 Act. 1 Ed. VI, iii, §2 Such Slaue, or loiterer to bee marked on the..ball of the cheeke with an hot iron. 1586 Warner Alb. Eng. iv. xx. 97 Beating Balles, her vained breasts. 1752 Carte Hist. Eng. III. 542 The women painted about the eyes and the Balls of the cheeks with an azure colour. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 The recruit brings the ball of the right foot to the left heel. 1875 Buckland Log-Bk. 22 Large muscle which forms the ball of the thumb. |
b. Pl.
vulg. The testicles;
fig. nonsense,
freq. as
int.; hence
vbl. phr.,
to make a balls of, to muddle, to do badly, to make a mess of.
Cf. to ball up (
ball v.
1 6 b).
| a 1325, a 1456 in M.E.D. 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang, s.v. Balls: ‘To make balls of it’, to make a mistake, to get into trouble. Balls, all (popular), all rubbish. 1890 Farmer Slang I. 109/2 All balls, all rubbish; nonsense. 1903 O. Wister Philosophy 4: A Story of Harvard Univ. i. 10 ‘If I were to stop thinking about you, you'd evaporate.’ ‘Which is balls,’ observed the second boy judicially, again in the slang of his period, ‘and can be proved so. For you're not always thinking about me, and I've never evaporated once.’ 1922 Joyce Ulysses 134 All balls! Bulldosing the public! 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley xv. 263 She..gathered his balls in her hand. 1934 ‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days ii. 34 ‘We all think this idea of electing a native to the Club is absolute ―’ Ellis was going to have said ‘absolute balls’. 1945 Penguin New Writing XXVI. 59 They are all of the opinion you can't write and be a soldier same time. Myself I think that's all balls. 1946 B. Marshall George Brown's Schooldays 79 What do you mean by talking all that unpatriotic balls to the Old Man yesterday? 1956 A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Attitudes ii. ii. 346 ‘Look here! this is awful balls,’ said John. 1958 S. Beckett Endgame 21 I've made a balls of the fly. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices iv. v. 243 Fanciful? Balls! It's what happens. |
c. balls-up, a confusion, a muddle, a mess. Hence
to balls up = to ball up (
ball v.
1 6 b).
vulg.| 1939 ‘ G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air ii. viii. 150 You couldn't go on regarding society as something eternal and unquestionable, like a pyramid. You knew it was just a balls-up. 1945 Penguin New Writing XXVI. 51 ‘What d'you make of this case, corporal?’ ‘Bleeding balls-up, between you and me.’ 1956 R. Fuller Image of Society viii. 197 Stuart Blackledge made a ballsup of the valuation. |
| 1947 E. Taylor View of Harbour v. 76 You will balls everything up with your indifference. 1961 S. Price Just for Record viii. 72 The public would laugh fit to bust if someone really ballsed-up the Civil Service. |
d. pl. Courage, determination; (manly) power or strength; masculinity.
Cf. ballsy a. and
cojones.
slang (chiefly
U.S.).
| [1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xiv. 236 You say a man's got no brain, when he's a fool... And when he's got none of that spunky wild bit of a man in him, you say he's got no balls. When he's sort of tame.] 1958 in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 17/1 (oral) That copy is too weak. Rewrite it and put balls on it! 1968 Internat. Times 5 Jan. 5/1 The castrated version of Olympia Press which was for a time published in England has gone..sadly..for even that watered down stuff, all promise and no balls..was better than..third rate mimeographed merde. 1970 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 15 May 35/4 [American loq.] Maggie's no mop..she's got more balls than a Christmas tree. 1979 Tucson Mag. Jan. 29/3, I told him I just can't do it that way... I suppose it took balls, but it is no more balls than anyone should have for themselves. 1984 M. Amis Money 315 Just keeping a handhold and staying where you are,..even that takes tons of balls. |
16. The central hollow of the palm of the hand or sole of the foot (
obs.); the central part of an animal's foot.
| 1601 Dent Path-w. Heaven 242 Some men..will easilie feele the lightest feather..laide vpon the ball of their hands. 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 133 The pinne groweth in the bales of the feet of vnquiet Hawkes. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 120 They..hold one end of it down with the Ball of the Foot. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., Ball of the foot of a dog is the prominent part of the middle of the foot. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell), Ball of the hand, Palma. Ball of the foot, Planta pedis. |
17. ball of a pillar in
Arch.: the scotia, a hollow moulding between the fillets in the base of a pillar or column.
| 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict., Ball of a pillar, scotia. |
IV. Phrases and phraseological combinations.
18. a. fig. from games,
football,
tennis, etc.:—
to catch or take the ball before the bound: to anticipate an opportunity;
to have the ball at one's foot (feet) or before one: to have a thing in one's power;
to have or keep one's eye on the ball: to be, or to remain, alert;
to keep the ball up or rolling: to keep the conversation or an undertaking from flagging; also
to set (or start) the ball rolling: to begin a conversation, undertaking, etc.;
to play ball (with): to act fairly (with), to co-operate (with);
to take up the ball: to take one's turn in conversation, etc.;
the ball is with you: it is your turn; similarly,
the ball is in one's (or another's) court [
court n.14], etc.
| 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix, We do preuent them..and do catch the ball (as they are wont to say) before it come to the ground. a 1641 in E. Beveridge Fergusson's Scot. Proverbs (1924) MS. No. 588 He has the ball at his foot. c 1645 Howell Lett. iv. ix, It concerns you not to be over-hasty herein, not to take the Ball before the Bound. c 1661 Papers on Alterat. Prayer-bk. 24 You have the ball before you, and have the wind and sun, and the power of contending without controll. 1693 J. Howe Carnality Relig. Contention ii. 75 A mighty pleasure is taken to see the Saw drawn, and the Ball kept up. 1781 Bentham To G. Wilson Wks. 1843 X. 104, I put a word in now and then to keep the ball up. c 1800 Ld. Auckland Corr. (1862) III. 416 We have the ball at our feet, and if the Government will allow us..the rebellion will be crushed. 1809 Wellington in Gurwood Disp. V. 365 If the Spaniards had not lost two armies lately, we should keep up the ball for another year. 1840 Log Cabin & Hard Cider Melodies 58 Virginia will keep her ball rolling. 1850 W. Colton Deck & Port xiv. 390 That courageous organisation which set the ball of Anglo-Saxon supremacy rolling in California. 1857 Trollope Three Clerks I. ix. 183 The ball is at your foot now, but it won't remain there. 1873 Lytton Parisians II. v. iii. 142 The Duchesse..took up the ball of the conversation. 1878 Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 345 Louder Rosencranz Took up the ball. 1884 Mrs. H. Ward Miss Bretherton iv. 84 She has a dry original way of judging a novel which is stimulating and keeps the ball rolling. 1903 ‘H. McHugh’ Back to Woods vii. 100 Well, if Bunch should refuse to play ball I could send the check back to Uncle Peter. 1906 A. T. Quiller-Couch Cornish Window 127 Relief..came with his election as Fellow of Oriel..and the brilliant young scholar had..the ball at his feet. 1907 in Screen Bk. (1937) 102 We were forever being told ‘Keep your eye on the ball’. 1911 P. V. Cohn tr. Nietzsche's Human, All too Human II. 323 Such persons are in a position to start the ball of slander rolling. 1913 A. R. Hope Half & Half Trag. 250 These amateurs failed to keep the ball rolling. 1930 C. Terrett Only Saps Work 149 The police of Buffalo are too dumb—it would be redundant, I suppose, to say ‘and honest’—to play ball with the hold-up mobs. 1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Jan. 54/2 Since Malthus set the ball rolling, public opinion has undergone profound metamorphoses. 1944 L. A. G. Strong Director 31 You play ball with me, and I'll see you don't regret it. 1958 Spectator 15 Aug. 230/2 This is an admirably professional book..; its authors keep their eyes on the ball. 1963 Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (ed. 8) 68/1 The ball is with you, or in your court. It is your turn now. 1967 A. Newman Three into Two i. 5 No doubt she would play safe and..the ball would be back in his court. 1984 Financial Times 28 Apr. 4/4 ‘The ball is in his court,’ said Mr Ken Ashton..after a meeting of the union's executive yesterday. 1985 R. C. A. White Admin. of Justice viii. 131 The ball is now back in the plaintiff's court. The plaintiff may..seek further..but, sooner or later, must file a defence to any counterclaim. |
b. to have (something), or to be, on the ball: to have special merit, to be alert.
U.S. colloq. to be on the ball is now also
U.K.| 1912 Collier's 13 Apr. 19/1 He's got nothing on the ball—nothing at all. 1935 Mademoiselle Sept. 61/3 The lass has much on the ball. 1947 A. Miller All my Sons (1958) i. 65 Now you're talkin', Bert. Now you're on the ball. 1961 Listener 28 Dec. 1136/2 The B.B.C. are ‘on the ball’ as the Americans would say. 1968 Times 19 Apr. 13/4 Kenneth Loach's direction [of a television play] was nothing if not on the ball. |
19. a. ball and socket (joint): a joint formed of a ball or rounded extremity partly enclosed in a cup or socket, which thus has great freedom of play combined with strength.
| 1669 Boyle Cont. New Exper. i. xxii. 74 This travailing Baroscope being furnished at its upper end with a very good Ball and Socket. 1741 Monro Anat. 42 Enarthrosis, or the Ball and Socket..when a large Head is received into a deep Cavity. 1809 Home in Phil. Trans. XCIX. 182 There is a regular ball and socket joint between every two vertebræ. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. 159 By..impenetrable assurance, and a ball-and-socket morality. 1870 Rolleston Anim. Life 33 Ball and socket articulation. |
b. ball-and-claw attrib. = claw-and-ball (see
claw n. 8).
| 1904 E. Singleton French & Eng. Furniture 237 In not one of Chippendale's drawings of chairs does the simple ball-and-claw foot occur. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 23/1 Ball and claw foot (or claw and ball), terminal to a cabriole leg...In use on English furniture from the early until the late years of the 18th cent. |
20. three (golden) balls: the sign of a pawnbroker; supposed by some to be derived from the ensign of the wealthy Medici family. Also formerly
three blue balls.
| 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xvi. 123 He..unbuckled his hanger, and shewing me the sign of three blue balls, desired me to..pawn it. 1788 V. Knox Winter Evenings II. v. iv. 129 Pawn at some distant house, known by the sign of the three blue [ed. 2, 1790 golden] balls. a 1845 Hood Pawning Watch ix, I've gone to a dance for my supper; And now I must go to Three Balls! 1861 Sala Tw. round Clock 180 The brethren of the three golden balls. |
V. Comb. 21. General combinations, mostly
attrib. (in various senses, but
esp. football and baseball), as
ball-alley,
ball-club (N.
Amer.),
ball-control,
ball-field,
ball-firing,
ball game,
ball-green,
ball ground,
ball-play,
ball-player,
ball-playing,
ball-practice,
ball-stick,
ball-team; also the
adjs. ball-proof,
ball-piled,
ball-shaped.
| 1865 Englishm. Mag. Oct. 313 *Ball-alleys and racquet-courts were the exception. |
| 1845 Brooklyn Even. Star 23 Oct. 2/3 A match of base ball was played on Tuesday at the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, between eight members of the New York *Ball Club and the same number of players from Brooklyn. 1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. a24/6 Most of the new tickets..were returned to the ballclub by out-of-town baseball organizations this week. |
| 1928 Sunday Dispatch 2 Sept. 1/1 Clever *ball control is returning to our football enclosures. 1951 Swimming (E.S.S.A.) vi. 113 You are mastering ball-control, one of the most important phases of the game [sc. water polo]. |
| 1867 Ball Players' Chron. 13 June 4/2 Let us train up assemblages to good behavior on *ball-fields. |
| 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 31 *Ball Firing..at a target. |
| 1848 Knickerbocker XVIII. 216 The boys suspend their *ball game while he drives over the green. 1898 S. Hale Lett. (1919) 335 These men were just like..Harvard men, after the ball game has gone right for us. 1944 E. Blunden Cricket Country xii. 126 His ball-game tendencies alarmed some of the authorities. 1961 New Left Review July/Aug. 57/2 Another ball-games court for older boys. |
| 1657 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 19 Making a *ball-green on his chin; As trees do sometime in a wood. |
| 1772 D. Taitt in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Colonies (1916) 546 [I] then went to a *Ball ground..where the Eutchie and Geehaw people were playing Ball. 1856 Spirit of Times 13 Dec. 245/1 The Club presented their President with an elegant silver Pitcher, with a view of the ball ground carved out upon it. 1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 297/2 Sites for ball-grounds and race-tracks. |
| 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. li, The *ball-piled pyramid. |
| c 1230 Ancr. R. 218 Iðe uorme ȝeres nis hit bute *bal-pleouwe. 1765 H. Timberlake Mem. 79, I was not a little pleased likewise with their ball-plays. 1855 Longfellow Hiaw. xi. 62 Skilled..in the play of quoits and ball-play. |
| 1619 Sanderson Serm. I. 7 As *ball-players with the ball. When the ball is once up, they labour to keep it up. 1837 J. D. Whitney in E. T. Brewster Life & Lett. J. D. W. (1909) 20 For my part, I could never make a ball player. |
| 1827 T. L. McKenney Tour to Lakes 181 The little naked Indian boys..were..playing ball...This *ball-playing is not unlike our game of bandy. |
| 1818 Scott Rob. Roy xxxi, A regimental target set up for *ball practice. |
| 1854 Owen in Circ. Sc. II. 45/2 The *ball-proof character of the skin. |
| 1884 J. Colborne With Hicks Pasha 241 Round *ball-shaped boxes. |
| 1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 400 The *ball-sticks are about two feet long, the lower end somewhat resembling the palm of the hand, and..worked with deerskin thongs. Between these, they catch the ball, and throw it a great distance. 1846 J. J. Hooper Adv. Simon Suggs ix. 113 They..knock down their antagonists with their ball-sticks. |
| 1888 Outing (U.S.) July 356/1 The personnel of the average professional *ball team..has improved. 1936 J. dos Passos Big Money 17 At Exeter he was head of his class and captain of the ballteam. |
22. Special combinations:
ball-ˈbearing(s), a mechanical contrivance for lessening friction by means of small loose metal balls, used for the bearings of axles;
† ball-bellows, a hollow metal ball formerly used for producing a steam blast;
ball boy, one who fields balls for the players at a lawn tennis tournament;
ball-cartridge, a gun-cartridge, or pistol-cartridge containing a bullet;
ball clay, very adhesive clay, as that brought up in lumps sticking to a ship's anchor;
esp. a fine-textured clay, found mainly in south-western England, which is used in the manufacture of earthenware;
ball-cock, a self-regulating cistern-tap turned off and on by the rising or falling of a hollow ball floating on the surface of the liquid;
ball-court, an area (such as a paved yard) for the playing of ball games;
spec. in
Archæol., a feature of the remains of the Maya civilization in Central America;
ball-drawer, an instrument for extracting balls from fire-arms;
ball-flower (
Arch.), an ornament like a ball enclosed within three or four petals of a flower, often inserted in a hollow moulding;
ball-fringe, a decorative fringe (for a mantelpiece, etc.) consisting of ball-shaped materials hung at intervals;
ball game, (
a) (see sense 21); (
b)
fig. (chiefly
U.S.), a state of affairs, a continuing activity, contest, etc.;
freq. in
colloq. phr. a different (new, etc.) ball game, one in which new factors come into play;
ball-headed a., with the head shaped like a ball;
ball joint, a ball-and-socket joint;
ball-lightning, lightning in a globular form;
= globe-lightning;
ball mill (see
quot. 1911);
ball-mine, a kind of iron-ore found in rounded lumps or nodules;
ball-peen,
-pome (see
peen n.,
pome n.1 3);
ball-planting, a method of transplanting trees (see
quot.;
cf. 10 e);
ball-pointed a., having a (minute) ball-shaped point;
ball(-point) pen, one of which the writing point is a minute ball which is inked from an inner reservoir; also
ellipt. ball-point;
ball-race (see
race n.1 8 g);
ball smut = bunt n.2 2 (see
smut-ball);
ball-stamp, an American ore-crushing machine;
ball-stock, the stock or handle of a printer's ball;
ball-stone, a rounded lump of ironstone or limestone;
ball-tap (
= ball-cock);
ball-thistle, the Globe Thistle, also a species of Echinops;
ball-trap (see
trap n.1 8 and
cf. ball-valve);
ball turret Aeronaut. (see
quot. 1956);
ball-valve, a valve opened or closed by the rising or falling of a ball which exactly fits a cup-shaped opening in the seat;
† ball-vein, a kind of iron ore in nodules formerly worked in Sussex;
ball-weed, knapweed (
Centaurea nigra).
| 1883 Knowledge 3 Aug. 76/1 Three machines..with *ball-bearings. |
| 1634 T. Johnson tr. Parey's Chirurg. xi. (1678) 276 *Ball-bellows..made of Brass in form of a Pear, with a very small hole in their lesser ends. |
| 1903 Westm. Gaz. 29 Aug. 6/1 A black moving surface, over which red-coated *ball boys dart. 1968 Observer 28 Apr. 22/2 The tall, dark Gonzales..telling an industrious ball-boy to calm down. |
| 1803 Ld. Colchester Diary & Corr. I. 451 A quantity of pikes, of *ball-cartridges and of combustibles. |
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 399 The captain..ordered the marines to load with *ball-cartridge. |
| 1811 Agric. Surv. Ayrsh. 4 (Jam.) If steril and adhesive, it is sometimes termed strong as *ball-clay. 1865 E. Meteyard Life J. Wedgwood iv. 140 The imported clay was used as a wash, previously to firing. This was called ‘Ball clay’..from being made up in heaps weighing sixty or seventy pounds each. 1903 Daily Mail 7 Sept. 5/5 They are the only mines in the world that produce the ‘ball clay’, without which the manufacture of earthenware is impossible. 1957 Ball clay [see blue a. 12 c]. 1968 Radio Times 2 May 17/2 Digging for valuable ball clay makes ugly scars across the Devon countryside. |
| 1790 J. Dring Brit. Pat. No. 1725 A certain improvement on all cocks, which from the nature of such improvement are termed *ball cocks. c 1850 Knight's Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 558 A house-service pipe provided with a ball-cock, etc. |
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 17 The *Ball-Court at Corpus Christi Coll. 1721 Amherst Terræ Fil. 179 The old ball-court, where I have had many a game at fives. 1867 G. M. Hopkins in Lett. & Jrnls. (1959) I. 159 The boys flooded the ball-court and slid and skated on it. 1912 J. W. Fewkes in Ann. Rep. Bureau Amer. Ethnol. XXVIII. 93 A long court extends across the whole south end of the compound. Its form suggests a ball court or course for foot races. 1959 Listener 12 Mar. 447/2 Huge pyramids, temples, and sacred ball courts are scattered over an area half a mile square [at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico]. |
| 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 96 One *Ball-drawer to each Rifle. |
| 1845 Archæol. Jrnl. I. 100 The Chapel in Marten's tower with its *ball-flower moulding. |
| 1862 Archæol. XXXIX. 182 The *ball-flower pattern..carries down the building so late as 1340. |
| 1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay i. ii. 64 Stuff with *ball fringe along the mantel. |
| 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 9/4 ‘Then it will look like a different *ball game,’ he said. ‘We might see these recent attacks as a kind of last gasp.’ 1969 Outdoor Life Mar. 134/2 As the trite saying goes, the Mark V made the use of buckshot a new ball game. 1969 N.Y. Times 12 Apr. 1 One key adviser called the Liberal party nomination ‘the ball game, in many ways’. 1970 TV Guide (U.S.) 3 Jan. A-1 At the half time it's NBC ahead in the network ratings ball game on every count—NBC says. 1971 New Yorker 13 Mar. 30 If an invasion took place the Chinese might enter the war. If this were to happen, some official..would no doubt announce that we were in a ‘whole new ballgame’. 1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief i. viii. 101 This mother was another ball game. 1982 S. Bellow Dean's December xii. 221 ‘But the antagonism of people in Chicago is insignificant. He has another ball game in mind altogether.’ (Corde enjoyed hearing slang.) 1984 Times 23 Nov. 13/6 With the proposed parental contribution to the tuition fees of students in higher education the parents enter an entirely new ball-game. |
| 1902 How to make useful Things 48/2 With a *ball-headed hammer strike the petals of the discs. 1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork ii. 48 Ball-headed set pins (that is ball-headed bolts) can give a decorative appearance to a bolted joint. |
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 70/2 *Ball-joint hinge, one having a flexible knuckle. 1930 Engineering 7 Feb. 177/2 The connections with the headers made with ball joints. 1962 Which? (Car Suppl.) Oct. 139/2 Grease from lower front suspension ball joints. |
| 1857 J. P. Nichol Cycl. Physical Sci. 431/2 *Ball lightnings or globes of fire..move slowly from the clouds to the Earth. 1930 Discovery Dec. 391/2 Ball lightning is probably the most interesting form of lightning discharge. |
| 1903 R. H. Richards Ore Dressing I. vi. 260 The Bruckner *Ball Mill was the parent form..and consisted of a cylinder revolving on a horizontal axis with die plates around the circumference. The ore ground by balls, passed out through the spaces between the die plates. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XX. 239/1 The ball mill is a horizontal revolving cylinder with iron balls in it which do the grinding. 1930 Engineering 16 May 633/3 The contents of the weighing machine are discharged directly into one of four ball mills. 1963 J. Osborne Dental Mechanics (ed. 5) xi. 242 The pigments are usually impregnated to the surface of the polymer particles by means of a ball mill. |
| 1702 in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1072 A sort of Iron Stone, akin to that which they call in Staffordshire *Ballmine. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 224/2 *Ball-peen Hammer, a metal-worker's hammer with a spherical peen. a 1884 Ibid. Suppl. 71/1 Ball-peen Hammer, one whose peen is round, or ball-shaped. 1946 Esquire (Chicago) Nov. 155 Biro who introduced the first *ball-pen presents..a sensational new invention. 1958 Times 2 June p. vi/3 Gas is used..in the manufacture of familiar articles such as ball pens, aircraft engines, [etc.]. |
| 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 6 *Ball planting, a method of transplanting young trees with balls or lumps of earth around the roots. |
| 1948 Specifications of Inventions, Pat. Spec. 617/176 A *ball point pen of new and improved construction. 1958 Times Rev. Industry June 22/2 The ball-point pen has a universally inimical effect upon..handwriting. 1959 R. Gant World in Jug 124, I..looked at him, sitting there..holding a ball-point. |
| 1935 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 1054 A few specimens of brass were measured..using a *ball-pointed micrometer. 1952 ‘C. Brand’ London Particular xvi. 217 Sergeant Bedd licked the end of his ball-pointed pen. |
| 1922 Weekly Dispatch 17 Dec. 15, 1-lb. *Ball-pome Hammer. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 18 Nov. 7/2 The *ball-races fitted between the springs and the axle on which the long semi-elliptical springs are carried. 1908 Ibid. 30 June 4/2 Of the three Ariels [one] had the misfortune to break a ball-race in the hub. |
| 1934 Webster, *Ball smut. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Dec. 508/1 The need for some type of seed treatment to control ball smut was soon recognised. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Ball-Stamp, a stamp for crushing rock, operated directly by steam power. |
| 1803 J. Plymley Agric. Shropsh. i. 56 *Ballstone and earth. 1849 Murchison Siluria vi. 116 The ballstones..being more crystalline than the nodules. |
| 1597 Gerard Herbal ii. cccclxxviii. (1633) 1152 Carduus eriocephalus..is called in English, Globe Thistle, and *Ball-Thistle. |
| 1873 Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 4) 344 The *ball-trap is used in some special cases only; a ball is lifted up as the water rises, until it impinges on and closes an orifice. |
| 1945 Aeronautics Feb. 43/3 Nose turrets are supplied..and the retractable Sperry-designed *ball turrets. 1956 W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 71/1 Ball turret, a turret in the shape of a ball, designed to project or to be let down from the belly of an airplane, and to house the gunner. |
| 1839 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. III. 631/2 A mechanical office somewhat on the principle of the *ball-valve. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Ball-vein..a name given by the miners in Sussex to a sort of iron ore. |
Add:
[V.] [22.] balls-aching a. coarse slang, that causes annoyance, revulsion, or boredom; extremely irritating or tedious.
| ? 1912 D. H. Lawrence in F. Lawrence Mem. & Corr. (1961) 189 *Balls-aching rot. 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 157 Balls-aching drivel, unquestionably—and poor tactics, too. 1989 R. M. Wilson Ripley Bogle i. 8 I don't quite know why I bother with all this ballsaching fire and semi-satire. |
hence
balls-achingly adv.| 1972 J. Metcalf Going down Slow iii. 48 ‘Oh, don't be so *ballsachingly adolescent!’ snapped Garry. |
(as a back-formation)
balls-ache, a state of annoyance or boredom.
| 1938 Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1048/2 You give me the *balls-ache!..I disagree with your point of view; or, I disapprove of your behaviour. |
▸
Baseball. A pitch delivered outside the strike zone which the batter does not attempt to hit.
Cf. strike n.1 12b.
| 1866 Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of N.Y. By-laws 16 Should the pitcher repeatedly fail to deliver to the striker fair balls, for the apparent reason of delaying the game, or for any other cause, the Umpire, after warning him, shall call one ball, and if the pitcher persists in such action, two and three balls—when three balls shall have been called, the striker shall take the first base. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching 12 It put me in the hole with the count two balls and one strike. 1967 C. Potok Chosen i. 35 He ignored it completely, and the umpire called it a ball. 1986 R. J. Conley Back to Malachi 145 Butcher..let fly another at me. Richard called that one a strike. The next one was another ball, and the next one. 2001 Sporting News 10 Sept. 46/1 There are three balls and two strikes. |
▸
ball of wax n. (a) a rounded mass of wax; (
fig.) someone or something easy to mould;
(b) slang (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.) a distinct matter, affair, concern, or situation, (one's) interest;
the whole ball of wax: everything relating to a particular situation, the entire matter, the whole thing.
| 1594 R. Carew tr. J. Huarte Exam. Mens Wits iii. 25 Taking a perfect round *ball of wax and pressing it together somewhat on the sides. 1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis Pref., Like a Ball of wax, oblongly spread. 1797 Times 21 Feb. 3/3 Out of his stomach was taken a ball of wax, inclosing written orders to General Wurmser. 1835 Times 11 Sept. 5/6 Egypt in his hands was a ball of wax, ready to be moulded into any form. 1882 Atlanta Constit. 25 Apr. 4/4 We notice that John Sherman & Co. have opened a real estate office in Washington. Believing in his heart of hearts that he owns this country, we wil[l] be greatly surprised if Mr. Sherman does not attempt to sell out the whole ball of wax under the hammer. 1954 S. Mead Big Ball of Wax i. 4 Well, why don't we go back to the beginning and roll it all up, as the fellows say, into one big ball of wax. 1983 M. S. Peck People of Lie (1985) vi. 218 Although the cover-up may seem less atrocious than the atrocities, they are part of the same ball of wax. 1991 Independent 30 Mar. (Mag.) 24/2 He liked that kind of stuff... It was his ball of wax. 2001 Toronto Star 12 Jan. a13/2 If we're talking disclosure, let's talk about the whole ball of wax... We want these details out for the public. |
▸
ball of muscle n. chiefly
Austral. and
N.Z. a person or animal with a powerful, muscular physique; a fit, energetic person.
| c 1914A. B. Paterson Racehorses & Racing in Austral. (MS) in C. Semmler World of Banjo Paterson (1967) 321 The handicap king, Moonlighter, bounds along, a *ball of muscle, in last place. 1951 D. Cusack & F. James Come in Spinner 251 ‘Hullo,’ he said pleasantly, ‘you look a ball of muscle tonight’. 1998 Sunday News (Auckland) (Nexis) 15 Feb. 51 Disregarding the other competitors including the black ball of muscle that is Bailey. |
▸
ball carrier n. Sport (
orig. Amer. Football) a player who handles the ball in an offensive play, or whose role is to do this.
| 1902 Los Angeles Daily Times 3 Jan. 11/1 [They] are the strongest of Stanford's *ball carriers, either against the line or around the ends. 1934 H. O. Crisler & E. E. Wieman Pract. Football vii. 86 The ball carrier is more easily stopped in the hole than anywhere else. 2004 Rugby World Feb. 74/1 The Laws Laboratory allowed a player to tackle the ball-carrier in a maul between the shoulders and waist. |
▸
ball doctoring n. Sport (
esp. Cricket)
= ball tampering n.| 1939 Ada (Okla.) Evening News 18 May 10/2 (heading) Frankhouse warned on *ball doctoring. 1992 Indiamail 22 Sept. 1/5 A compliment for a cricketer from the sub-continent is as rare in Britain these days as Sir Gary Sobers's six sixes in an over, with the ball-doctoring controversy blazing the tabloid pages. 2001 Northern Echo (Electronic ed.) 8 June He has always been at the forefront of ball doctoring and Channel 4 had a clear close-up of him illegally running his thumb nail across the ball. |
▸
ball girl n. Sport (
esp. Lawn Tennis) a girl or woman who retrieves balls which go out of play during a match, and provides new balls when necessary (
cf. ball boy n.).
| 1923 Times 21 Mar. 6/5 Certain matches were disfigured by execrable umpiring of the line. Praise is due to the *ball-girls. 1996 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 25 Nov. a6/3 One of my daughters has been a ball girl for the University of Louisville's women's basketball and volleyball teams. |
▸
ball-handler n. Sport (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.,
esp. in
Basketball) a player whose role is to manoeuvre the ball toward the goal, basket, etc.
| 1912 Anaconda (Montana) Standard 16 June (Sporting section) 2/1 The coach will be up against it for a *ball-handler next year unless the Detroiter is used there. 1943 Esquire Nov. 69/1 Albert, a superb ball-handler, a magician with the ball, and a gifted field general. 1992 Basketball Digest Apr. 8/1 Skiles has a significant edge in scoring, passing, and leadership ability, and he is equal to, if not better than, Paxon as a ballhandler. |
▸
ball-strike n. Baseball (more fully
ball-and-strike) being or relating to the ratio of balls to strikes accumulated by a batter during a single turn at the bat;
usu. in
ball-(and-)strike count.
| 1924 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 15 Apr. 14/5 A batsman can be removed at any time in favor of a substitute hitter. The substitute simply taking the *ball and strike count on the original batsman. 1951 N.Y. Times 17 June v. 25 Then, with the ball-strike count 3-1, the shortstop delivered his triple. 1990 Seattle Times 9 Apr. b3/3 He can throw it any time on the ball-strike count. |
▸
ball tampering n. Sport illicit interference with the ball used in a match or game, to gain an advantage in play; (
Cricket) unlawful alteration of the condition of a ball,
esp. by roughening the surface or lifting the seam in an attempt to aid swing bowling.
| 1929 Florence (S. Carolina) Morning News 28 Apr. 3/6 (heading) Crackers charge Danforth with *ball tampering. 1990 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 19 Dec. 34 Two of the best-known figures in English cricket add their opinions to the great ‘doctoring’ debate. Dexter sees benefit of ball tampering. 1999 Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) (Nexis) 31 July c1 The NFL has heard the awful stories. Punters who soak footballs in water before a game, then run them through the dryer. Kickers who grossly over-inflate the ball... Evidence of ball-tampering was so great that something had to be done. 2001 Herald (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 6 June It was tactics rather than umpiring errors or any ball tampering that caused England's defeat in the dramatic second Test against Pakistan. |
▸
ball-winner n. (in team ball sports) a player who is adept at taking possession of the ball from the opposing team.
| 1972 Times 5 May 10/8 Leeds are deprived of the spectacular services of Cooper, an attacking full back, but Madeley and Reaney are better *ball-winners. 1999 Waikato (N.Z.) Times (Electronic ed.) 11 Nov. Experienced New Zealand sevens representative Owen Scrimgeour will lead the team up front, being the key ball winner in the air. |
▸
colloq. Chiefly
N. Amer. (
orig. U.S.).
to carry the ball: to assume responsibility or control; to do all or most of what is required.
In
quot. 1924 as part of an extended
metaphor.| 1924 Indianapolis Star (Electronic text) 25 July Describing Mr. Peters to newspaper correspondents, Mr. Davis said, ‘he was the man who was carrying the ball down the field when it was taken away from him,’ referring to the intervention of President Coolidge, then Governor of Massachusetts, in the police strike situation. 1933 N.Y. Times 5 Jan. 26/2 There's no need of carrying the ball for Sleepy Jimmy oratorically. He can speak for himself. 1938 M. Fessier Wings of Navy (film script) 83 It looks like you'll be carrying the ball from now on. 1973 Times 28 Apr. 5/4 ‘It's harsh to say they are letting us carry the ball{ddd}they are small, developing nations which we are trying to assist’, he [sc. an Australian Government Minister] said. 1991 J. DeMont Citizens Irving (1992) viii. 145 He is the steadying influence: he keeps Arthur in check, carries the ball during the touchiest business negotiations and acts as the front man for the empire's surprising new public relations push. |
▸
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
N. Amer.).
to run with the ball and variants: to take control of and advance an enterprise or undertaking,
esp. on one's sole initiative.
In
quot. 1926 as part of an extended
metaphor.| 1926 Davenport (Iowa) Democrat & Leader 20 Dec. 4/6 Instead of allowing every sectional representative, ambitious political leader and professional farmers' friend to try to run with the ball, the farmers should build themselves into a solid team which will play together thruout the game until the ball is across the line. 1950 M. L. Mace Growth & Devel. Executives iii. 63 Poor mixer. Tries to run with the ball. Occasionally indulges in obstructive argument. 1963 J. Didion Run River xviii. 189 Although she was no Jinx Falkenburg she had a lot of class and for his money ($75 a week) the ball was hers to run with. 1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 8 July 23/3 Mr Graham Kong, who has the Balmoral Hotel.., said the trust offered them the opportunity to ‘run with the ball’. 2003 Toronto Star (Electronic ed.) 3 Feb. When times are good and the public trust is high, you are allowed..to run with the ball. It's called leadership. |
▸
colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.).
that's the way (also how) the ball bounces: that is the way it is, ‘that's life’; that is how things turns out.
Cf. that's how the cookie crumbles at
cookie n. 4.
| 1952 G. Mandel Flee Angry Strangers 424 Women can kick that habit easier than men; that's the way the ball bounces. 1978 J. McGahern Getting Through (1991) 140 They say the world would be a better place if we looked at ourselves subjectively and objectively at others, but that's never the way the ball bounces. 1994 Science 30 Sept. 2004/4 When I got the word that we weren't going to get [our funding] renewed,..I was surprised, but I figured that's the way the ball bounces. 2000 Washington Times (Nexis) 14 Aug. b1 Heinrichs is depending on both veterans to accept their reduced status if that's how the ball bounces. |
▸
slang (
orig. U.S.).
to have (got) by the balls: to have at one's mercy or in one's power; to put at a disadvantage or in an unfavourable position.
| 1918N. Sissle Let. 14 Oct. in R. Kimball & W. Bolcom Reminiscing with Sissle & Blake (1973) 69/1 Jim and I have P—— by the balls in a bigger way than anyone you know. 1950P. Larkin Let. 26 Jan. in Sel. Lett. (1992) 157, I had been wondering what you were doing & am sorry to hear life has had you by the balls. 1975 J. A. Kangas & G. F. Solomon Psychol. of Strength 56 Her sick headaches have her husband by the balls. 2000 Esquire Aug. 84/1 As a Harvard Law student, you've got the world by the balls. |
▸
to grab (also take) by the balls: to take control of, to overwhelm; to engage forcibly or decisively with.
| 1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 180 Paris..grabs you by the balls. 1992 New Mus. Express (BNC) 9 May 18 Women have grabbed rock by the balls. 2002 LA Weekly (Nexis) 10 May 15 It's like working at a tabloid—you take a subject by the balls and play with it until you become callous. |
▪ II. ball, n.2 (
bɔːl)
[a. F. bal (= Pr. bal, It. ballo dancing), f. bal-er, ball-er to dance: see bale v.1 (In Chapman and Shirley's Ball (see sense 2) there was some punning reference to a golden ball worn by the presiding lady: see Gifford's note.)] † 1. A dance or dancing.
Obs.| 1633 H. Cogan Pinto's Voy. lxxix. 321 All of them together..danced a Ball to the tune of two Harps and a Viol. |
2. a. A social assembly for dancing, often of people belonging to the same or a connected establishment, society, profession, etc., with an organized programme and often accompanied by special entertainment; phrases,
to give a ball,
go to a ball; also,
to open the ball, (
fig.) to commence operations.
| 1632–9 Chapman & Shirley Ball iv. iii, L. Some malice has corrupted your opinion of what we call the Ball. W. Your dancing business? 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Add. xii. 93 Avoid carnivals and balls..the perdition of precious houres. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. 19 They had got a Calf of Gold, and were Dancing about it. But it was a Dismal Ball, and they paid dear for their Junket. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 466 ¶3 On Thursday next, I make a Ball for my Daughter. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. 175 Count Finkenstein gave a great dinner and ball. 1812 Byron Waltz xiii. note, Waltz and the battle of Austerlitz are..said to have opened the ball together. 1841 J. W. Orderson Creol. vi. 63 Miss Fairfield..was the first lady handed out to ‘open the ball.’ 1863 M. Howitt F. Bremer's Greece I. v. 146, I was very willing to see a royal ball at Athens. |
b. A very enjoyable time; a period of uninhibited amusement;
esp. in
phr. to have a ball.
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1945 L. Shelly Hepcats Jive Talk Dict. 25/2 Having a ball, having a hectic time. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues v. 75 An entertainer..was having a ball all to herself. 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 126 My poor old battered parent was really having a tremendous ball. |
| 1955 T. Williams Cat on Hot Tin Roof (1956) ii. 77 What is it they call it, have me a ― ball! 1956 ‘E. S. Aarons’ Assignment Treason v. 40 Quenton has himself a ball. 1967 J. Porter Dover & Unkindest Cut of All xii. 132 Have yourself a ball! Go gay! |
3. With limiting attribute,
a. descriptive, as
† ball-mask (
= F.
bal-masqué),
ball-royal,
calico-ball,
dignity-ball,
fancy-ball,
masking-ball;
b. indicating the object or occasion, as
archery-ball,
charity-ball,
race-ball.
| 1672 Dryden Marr. à la Mode Prol., A masking ball, to recommend our play. 1770 Wilkes corr. (1805) IV. 36 You did not mention particularly about the ball-mask. 1833 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 228 A dignity ball is a ball given by the most consequential of their coloured people. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxix. 70 It was the first dress-ball I had attended. 1849 Southey Common-pl. Bk. Ser. ii. 327 As great a performer in a ball-royal as himself. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. ii. xi, The archery ball..was not an escapement for youthful high spirits. |
4. attrib., as
ball-dancing,
ball-day,
ball-dress,
ball-night,
ball-room,
ball supper;
ball-book U.S., a dance-card. Also
ball-room.
| 1868 L. M. Alcott Little Women (1871) ii. xiv. 363 She showed him her ball-book with demure satisfaction. |
| 1728 J. Essex (title) Dancing-Master..the manner of performing all steps in Ball Dancing. |
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxvi. 26 The careful matron..on the ball-day feigned herself extremely ill. |
| 1789 E. Sheridan Jrnl. (1960) 154, I was interrupted by Miss Bouverie coming up to shew me her Ball dress. 1848 Dickens Dombey xiv. 140 She came: looking so beautiful in her simple ball dress. 1875 Helen Mathers Comin' thro' Rye ii. vii, How many yards of stuff an orthodox ample ball dress requires. |
| 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. II. 4 July 141 The company, on a ball-night, must look like an assembly of..fairies. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiv. 377 The ball-nights in Ba—ath are moments snatched from Paradise. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair iii. 17 What causes respectable parents to..spend a fifth of their year's income in ball suppers and iced champagne? |
| 1712 Steele Spect. No. 431 ¶3, I then nibbled all the red Wax of our last Ball-Tickets. |
▪ III. † ball, n.3 Obs. [prob. f. Celtic: cf. Welsh bàl n. or ? adj., in ceffyl bàl ‘a horse having a white streak on the forehead,’ Breton bal ‘a white mark on an animal's face,’ Ir. and Gael. bal spot, mark.] 1. A white streak or spot; ? a bald place.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §73 The .ii. propertyes of a bauson [i.e. badger]. The fyrste is, to haue a whyte rase or a ball in the foreheed; the seconde, to haue a whyte fote. |
2. ? A white-faced horse; hence a horse's name.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. 185 Be wise who first doth teach thy childe that Art, Least homelie breaker mar fine ambling ball. |
▪ IV. ball, n.4 Chiefly
Irish.
[Of obscure origin.] Usu. in
phr. ball of malt, a glass of (Irish) malt whiskey.
Connection with the slang
phr. ball of fire ‘a glass of brandy’ (
ball n.1 6 b) and with the slang use of
ball in the sense ‘prison ration of food’ (recorded in H. Brandon, 1839, and in slang dicts.) has been suggested but cannot be substantiated. Connection with
boll n.2 or
bowl n.1 is ruled out on phonological grounds.
| 1925 S. O'Casey Juno & Paycock ii. 63 There's nothing like a ball o' malt occasional like. 1941 L. A. G. Strong Bay iv. 89 ‘Will you take a ball of malt?’ I realized he was offering me the whiskey. 1962 Spectator 5 Oct. 528 Some foolish administrator had let him loose on innumerable balls of malt. 1966 H. Kane Devil to Pay vi. 31, I..went behind the bar and made myself a new ball of Scotch and water. |
▪ V. ball, v.1 (
bɔːl)
[f. ball n.1] 1. trans. To round or swell out (the cheeks, etc.).
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 41 The mayden-Moone..shall haue her crimson cheeks (as they wold burst) round balled out with blood. |
2. a. To make (snow, etc.) into a ball; to wind (thread) into a ball.
| 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxv. 157 Ball the bones together with your hands, as a snow-ball is made. 1849 Blackw. Mag. Aug. 199/1 She..asked me to hold her woollen yarns for her as she balled them off. 1856 Kane Arct. Ex. II. ix. 95 Brooks balls off twine. |
b. To clench (the fist) tightly. Also with
up: to roll up in a ball-like lump or mass.
| 1823 New Monthly Mag. VII. 542 Ball'd up to a mass, in a moment uncoil'd They rose, and again disappear'd in the dark. 1889 W. C. Russell Marooned I. xvi. 308 A spun-yarn winch was rattling on the forecastle; and the half-blood Charles..was balling up the stuff as it was manufactured. 1890 Baring-Gould Arminell I. vi. 99 With teeth clenched, and fists balled in his breeches pocket. 1925 Chambers's Jrnl. 581/1 No one had ever seen a balled-up swallow. |
c. Metallurgy.
to ball up: to form (molten iron) into balls in the puddling furnace, for hammering or rolling. Also
balling up vbl. n. Cf. Ball
n.1 10 d.
| 1855 W. Truran Iron Manuf. 134/1 The period for balling-up arrives. 1868 F. H. Joynson Metals 62 The metallic matter is..balled up and shingled. 1887 Phillips & Bauerman Elem. Metallurgy (ed. 2) 294 When the whole charge has been balled up. 1895 T. Turner Metall. Iron & Steel 291 Balling up stage, which occupies some twenty minutes. |
3. intr. To gather (itself) into a ball. Also
fig.| 1713 Lond. & Country Brew. i. (1742) 26 Stirring it [malt] all the while..that it may not ball. 1814 Southey Lett. (1856) II. 342 In clogs..snow balls under the wooden sole. 1880 Blackmore M. Anerley xl, The snow would..ball wherever any softness was. 1921 Galsworthy To Let iii. vii. 271 All the old car-wise feelings..balled within him. |
4. a. trans. To clog.
b. intr. To become clogged, with balls (of snow, etc.).
| 1760 New Eng. Hist. & Geneal. Reg. XXXVI. 31 A thaw, heavy travelling, the Snow shoes balling. 1828 Webster s.v., We say, the horse balls. 1848 A. Brontë Tenant of Wildfell Hall III. xiv. 284 The snow..clogged the wheels and balled the horses' feet. 1863 J. Brown Horæ Subs. 74 The pony stumbled through the..snow..getting its feet balled. |
5. trans. Of bees: to surround (the queen) in a dense cluster, often with the result that she is suffocated or crushed to death.
| 1888 F. R. Cheshire Bees II. 426 If very many pass the guards [of a strange hive] unchallenged, they are likely to ball the queen, and possibly destroy her. 1919 T. W. Cowan Bee-keeper's Guide Bk. (ed. 23) 141 It is sometimes very difficult to introduce queens into hives having no young bees, as the old bees frequently ‘ball’ the queen and hug her to death unless she be released. |
6. to ball up:
a. intr. To become clogged. (
Cf. 4 b.) Also
fig. (see
quot. 1856).
U.S.| 1856 B. H. Hall College Words (ed. 2) 19 Ball up, at Middlebury College, to fail at recitation or examination. 1903 S. Clapin Dict. Amer. 35 It probably comes from the ‘balling up’ of a horse in soft, new fallen snow, when a snow⁓ball forms within each shoe. |
b. trans. To clog; to bring into a state of entanglement, confusion, or difficulty. (Freq. in form
balled up.)
slang (orig
U.S.).
| 1885 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett. (1917) II. xxv. 465 It will ‘ball up’ the binderies again. 1887 Harper's Mag. Sept. 605/2 ‘You seem balled up about something.’..‘Balled up!.. I'm done for.’ 1896 Ade Artie xi. 98 She had him balled up till he couldn't say a word. 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights ix. 238 Every time old Hen stepped, he balled things up worse. 1930 D. Parker Laments for Living 6, I didn't mean to say that. You get me so balled up. 1932 J. Dos Passos 1919 (1937) 279 Bud..had gotten balled up with a girl in Galveston who was trying to blackmail him. 1934 E. Linklater Magnus Merriman xi. 128 Gee, I'm sorry I was late! I got all balled-up over the time. 1936 N. Coward ‘Red Peppers’ in To-night at 8.30 I. 90 You can't even do a straight walk off without balling it up. 1959 J. Drummond Black Unicorn xiv. 100 These electrical devices are always getting balled up. |
7. intr. Of roses: to fail to open properly, decaying in the half-open bud.
| 1930 H. H. Thomas Amateur's Rose Book iii. 11 A rose is said to ‘ball’ when the petals stick together and fail to open. |
8. to ball the jack, to travel fast, to hurry; also in extended use.
U.S. slang.| c 1925 in H. Wentworth Amer. Dial. Dict. 41/1 The car certainly did ball the jack. 1941 J. H. Street In my Father's House 67 (Wentworth & Flexner), Mr. Murdo balled the jack. Ibid. 268 They think as soon as you die you go balling-the-jack to God. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §156/4 Be reckless; hasten or strive recklessly, ball the jack. 1957 Kerouac On Road (1958) iii. 16 He balled the jack and told stories for a couple of hours. |
▪ VI. ball, v.2 ?
Obs. rare—1.
[f. ball n.1, sense 4.] To play at ball.
| 1681 Trial S. Colledge 37 When I came, he was balling. |
▪ VII. † ball, v.3 Obs. [? f. ball n.] intr. ? To strike, thump, shower blows.
| c 1400 Beryn 1026 And stert up in a wood rage, and ballid on his croun. |
▪ VIII. ball, v.4 (
bɔːl)
[f. ball n.2; cf. bale v.1] 1. intr. To take part in a ball.
| 1782 Ld. Fife Let. 8 June in Lord Fife & his Factor (1925) vi. 143 Dined, visited and balled at all the great houses. 1855 Harper's Mag. April 821/1 It is the temperature that sets people dancing and balling. |
2. To enjoy oneself; to ‘have a ball’ (see
ball n.2 2 b); also
to ball it up. So
balling vbl. n. N. Amer. slang.| 1942 Amer. Mercury July 94/1 Balling, having fun. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues iii. 32 Joe Tuckman felt like balling that night cause he beat Big Izzy..in the crap game. 1961 R. Bloch Blood runs Cold (1963) 156 Balling for kicks was enough. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed x. 70 A so-called friend invites you..to a coloured joint—to ball it up for a night. |
▪ IX. ball, v.5 (
bɔːl)
[Erron. form of bawl v.] With
out (see
bawl v. 3 c). Hence
balling-out, a vehement reprimand.
| 1959 A. Christie Cat among Pigeons xix. 199 She picked it up and forgot to replace it—walked out with it and Springer balled her out. 1959 P. M{supc}Cutchan Storm South vii. 94 He gave me quite the worst balling out I'll ever live to tell of. |
▪ X. ball, v.6 coarse slang (
orig. U.S.).
(
bɔːl)
[Perh. an extension of ball v.4 2, infl. by ball n.1 15 b.] trans. To copulate or have sexual intercourse with (
usu. with man as
subj.). Also
intr.| 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. i. 308 He used to bring her down here to shock her, and then take her home and ball her...—Edna? said Otto, unable to swallow.—With him? 1962 J. Baldwin Another Country i. i. 76 Next to him..sat a girl he had balled once or twice. 1963 Realist June 29 Is it bizarre that married guys have to jerk off more than anyone else, because your old ladies won't ball you and you can't chippie? 1968 T. Leary Politics of Ecstasy xii. 231 The way you ball (or avoid balling) is your central sacramental activity. 1974 G. Paley Enormous Changes at Last Minute 154 You like to ball?.. Then he put up her dress and take down her panties. 1978 G. Vidal Kalki i. 9 And you can tell the world all about those chicks that you ball. |