Ball
[bɔːl] or [bɔl]
Definition
(noun.) a pitch that is not in the strike zone; 'he threw nine straight balls before the manager yanked him'.
(noun.) the game of baseball.
(noun.) 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'; 'the ball rolled into the corner pocket'.
(noun.) a spherical object used as a plaything; 'he played with his rubber ball in the bathtub'.
(noun.) a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass; 'the ball at the base of the thumb'; 'he stood on the balls of his feet'.
(noun.) a lavish dance requiring formal attire.
(noun.) a compact mass; 'a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder'.
(noun.) the people assembled at a lavish formal dance; 'the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded'.
(noun.) United States comedienne best known as the star of a popular television program (1911-1989).
(noun.) an object with a spherical shape; 'a ball of fire'.
(verb.) form into a ball by winding or rolling; 'ball wool'.
Editor: Stacy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow.
(n.) A spherical body of any substance or size used to play with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc.
(n.) A general name for games in which a ball is thrown, kicked, or knocked. See Baseball, and Football.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; -- formerly used by printers for inking the form, but now superseded by the roller.
(n.) A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot.
(n.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus.
(n.) The globe or earth.
(v. i.) 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.
(v. t.) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
(v. t.) To form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton.
(n.) A social assembly for the purpose of dancing.
Checker: Ramona
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Globe, sphere.[2]. Dance, entertainment of dancing.[3]. Game of ball.
Typist: Murray
Definition
n. an entertainment of dancing.—n. Ball′room.—To open the ball to begin the dancing to begin operations.
n. anything round: any celestial body esp. the 'globe:' the golden orb borne with the sceptre as the emblem of sovereignty: a globular body to play with in tennis football golf billiards &c.: any rounded protuberant part of the body: a bullet or any missile thrown from an engine of war: a rounded mass of anything: a throw or delivery of the ball at cricket: a well-known game played with a ball.—v.i. to gather itself into a ball become clogged.—ns. Ball′-cart′ridge a cartridge containing both powder and ball ; Ball′-cock the stopcock of a cistern attached to one end of a lever at the other end of which is a hollow metal ball which rises and falls with the water thus regulating the supply; Ball′-flow′er an ornament of the decorated style of Gothic architecture resembling a ball placed in a circular flower.—adj. Ball′-proof proof against balls discharged from firearms.—Ball and socket a joint formed of a ball partly enclosed in a cup thus insuring great strength; Ball of the eye the eye within the lids and socket.—No ball a ball unfairly bowled.—Three golden or brass balls the sign of a pawnbroker.—To have the ball at one's feet to have a thing in one's power; To keep the ball up or rolling to keep from flagging; To take up the ball to take one's turn in anything.—Wide ball one out of the batsman's reach.
Checker: Selma
Unserious Contents or Definition
A very satisfactory omen, if beautiful and gaily-dressed people are dancing to the strains of entrancing music. If you feel gloomy and distressed at the inattention of others, a death in the family may be expected soon.
Typed by Dominic
Examples
- The red ball is dyed after seasoning, and at the time of final turning called finishing. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I should very much like to go,' said Mr. Tupman, resuming the subject of the ball, 'very much. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- There's where the ball-room's to be, with a gallery connecting it: billiard-room and so on above. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Not only this, but on the table I found a small ball of black dough or clay, with specks of something which looks like sawdust in it. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Her lodgings were hard by; and they threaded through the crowd without, where everything seemed to be more astir than even in the ball-room within. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I wore them to my first ball. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Here, bending towards Mr. Pickwick, he whispered in a deep, hollow voice, 'A Buff ball, Sir, will take place in Birmingham to-morrow evening. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- The table was of the usual European style --cushions dead and twice as high as the balls; the cues in bad repair. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- When the iron parts with its carbon it loses its fluidity and becomes plastic and coherent, and is formed into balls called _blooms_. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- When he was speaking of it in that way, I honestly said that _the_ _world_ I could give upparties, balls, playsfor I had no fear of retirement. Jane Austen. Emma.
- The explanation of this well-known fact is found in a further study of the elastic balls (Fig. 170). Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The purpose is to take care of the misdirected balls that roll off the bed before reaching the pit. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Take my ticker and such of your things as you can SPARE, and send them to Balls--we must, of coarse, have the sum to-night. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Pin-pricks hurt more than cannon balls, and incessant worries are far more painful than great calamities. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Then he heard a horse coming, the hoofs balled with the wet snow thumping dully as the horseman trotted. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The general black-balling had begun. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Editor: Timmy