Definitions for: Ball


[n] a pitch that is not in the strike zone; "he threw nine straight balls before the manager yanked him"
[n] a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of 9 players; teams take turns at bat trying to score run; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empy lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!"
[n] round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games; "the ball travelled 90 mph on his serve"; "the mayor threw out the first ball"
[n] a spherical object used as a plaything; "he played with his rubber ball in the bathtub"
[n] a solid ball shot by a musket; "they had to carry a ramrod as well as powder and ball"
[n] one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens; "she kicked him in the balls and got away"
[n] a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass; ball of the human foot or ball at the base of the thumb; "he stood on the balls of his feet"
[n] a lavish formal dance
[n] a compact mass; "a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder"
[n] the people assembled at a lavish formal dance; "the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded"
[n] an object with a spherical shape; "a ball of fire"
[v] form into a ball by winding, rolling, etc.; ball wool, for example



Webster (1913) Definition: Ball (b[add]l), n. [OE. bal, balle; akin to OHG. balla,
palla, G. ball, Icel. b["o]llr, ball; cf. F. balle. Cf. 1st
Bale, n., Pallmall.]
1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as,
a ball of twine; a ball of snow.

2. A spherical body of any substance or size used to play
with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc.

3. A general name for games in which a ball is thrown,
kicked, or knocked. See Baseball, and Football.

4. Any solid spherical, cylindrical, or conical projectile of
lead or iron, to be discharged from a firearm; as, a
cannon ball; a rifle ball; -- often used collectively; as,
powder and ball. Spherical balls for the smaller firearms
are commonly called bullets.

5. (Pyrotechnics & Mil.) A flaming, roundish body shot into
the air; a case filled with combustibles intended to burst
and give light or set fire, or to produce smoke or stench;
as, a fire ball; a stink ball.

6. (Print.) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle
called a ballstock; -- formerly used by printers for
inking the form, but now superseded by the roller.

7. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body;
as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot.

8. (Far.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly
given to horses; a bolus. --White.

9. The globe or earth. --Pope.

Move round the dark terrestrial ball. --Addison.

Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within
a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction
within certain limits.

Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the
friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal
balls.

Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as
distinguished from a blank cartridge, containing only
powder.

Ball cock, a faucet or valve which is opened or closed by
the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of
a lever.

Ball gudgeon, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits
lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining
the pivot in its socket. --Knight.

Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock.

Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as distinguished from its
lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye.

Ball valve (Mach.), a contrivance by which a ball, placed
in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a
valve.

Ball vein (Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose
masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles.


Three balls, or Three golden balls, a pawnbroker's sign
or shop.

Syn: See Globe.


Ball, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Balled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Balling.]
To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or
clay; to gather into balls; as, the horse balls; the snow
balls.


Ball, v. t.
1. (Metal.) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for
rolling.

2. To form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton.


Ball, n. [F. bal, fr. OF. baler to dance, fr. LL.
ballare. Of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. ? to toss or throw, or
?, ?, to leap, bound, ? to dance, jump about; or cf. 1st
Ball, n.]
A social assembly for the purpose of dancing.


Ball, n. (Baseball)
A pitched ball, not struck at by the batsman, which fails to
pass over the home base at a height not greater than the
batsman's shoulder nor less than his knee.

Synonyms: ballock, baseball, baseball game, bollock, chunk, clod, clump, egg, glob, globe, lump, musket ball, nut, orb, orchis, testicle, testis

See Also: 1-hitter, 2-hitter, 3-hitter, 4-hitter, 5-hitter, agglomeration, anatomical structure, arteria testicularis, ball game, ballgame, base hit, baseball, baseball play, basketball, batting, beach ball, billiard ball, bingle, bocce ball, bocci ball, boccie ball, bodily structure, body structure, bolus, bowl, bowling ball, bunt, camphor ball, catching, clew, clot, coagulum, cobblers, complex body part, cotilion, cotillion, cricket ball, croquet ball, crystal ball, dance, dance, delivery, ductus deferens, epididymis, error, fair ball, family jewels, fancy-dress ball, field hockey ball, fielding, fireball, five-hitter, fly, fly ball, football, foul ball, four-hitter, game equipment, globule, gob, golf ball, gonad, ground ball, grounder, hand, handball, hardball, hopper, internal spermatic artery, lacrosse ball, line drive, liner, male genital organ, male genitalia, male genitals, male reproductive gland, male reproductive system, manus, marble, masked ball, masquerade ball, medicine ball, misplay, mitt, mothball, ninepin ball, no-hit game, no-hitter, one-hitter, out, paw, pellet, pellet, perfect game, ping-pong ball, pitch, pitching, playground ball, plaything, plunk, plunker, polo ball, pool ball, professional baseball, prom, promenade, promenade, punchball, punching bag, punching ball, racquetball, rete testis, roll, roulette ball, rounders, rugby ball, safety, seminiferous tubule, shot, skittle ball, snowball, soccer ball, softball, softball, softball game, sole, spermatic cord, sphere, spherule, squash ball, stickball, stickball game, structure, tag, tennis ball, testicular artery, testicular vein, three-hitter, time-ball, toy, twine, two-hitter, undescended testicle, undescended testis, vas deferens, vena testicularis, volleyball, wiffle, wiffle ball, wind, wrap

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