Definitions for BALL
bɔlball

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. ballnoun

   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"

2. musket ball, ballnoun

   a solid projectile that is shot by a musket

   "they had to carry a ramrod as well as powder and ball"

3. ball, globe, orbnoun

   an object with a spherical shape

   "a ball of fire"

4. ballnoun

   the people assembled at a lavish formal dance

   "the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded"

5. testis, testicle, orchis, ball, ballock, bollock, nut, eggnoun

   one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens

   "she kicked him in the balls and got away"

6. ballnoun

   a spherical object used as a plaything

   "he played with his rubber ball in the bathtub"

7. Ball, Lucille Ballnoun

   United States comedienne best known as the star of a popular television program (1911-1989)

8. ball, clod, glob, lump, clump, chunknoun

   a compact mass

   "a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder"

9. ball, formalnoun

   a lavish dance requiring formal attire

10. ballnoun

    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"

11. ballnoun

    the game of baseball

12. ballverb

    a pitch that is not in the strike zone

    "he threw nine straight balls before the manager yanked him"

13. ballverb

    form into a ball by winding or rolling

    "ball wool"

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ballnoun

   Etymology: bol, Dan. bol. Dut. Bel, diminutively Belin, the sun, or Apollo of the Celtæ, was called by the ancient Gauls Abellio. Whatever was round, and in particular the head, was called by the ancients either Bâl, or Bel, and likewise Ból and Biil. Among the modern Persians, the head is called Pole; and the Flemings still call the head Bolle. Πόλος is the head or poll, and πολεῖν, is to turn. Βολος likewise signifies a round ball, whence bowl, and bell, and ball, which the Welch term bêl. By the Scotch also the head is named bhêl; whence the English bill is derived, signifying the beak of a bird. Figuratively, the Phrygians and Thurians, by βάλλην understood a king. Hence also, in the Syriack dialects, βαάλ, βήλ, and likewise βῶλ, signifies lord, and by this name also the sun; and, in some dialects, Ἤλ and Ἲλ, whence Ἲλος, and Ἥλιος, Ϝήλιος, and Βηλιος, and also in the Celtick diminutive way of expression, Ἕλενος, Ϝέλενος, and Βέλενος, signified the sun; and Ἑλένη, Ϝελένη, and Βελένη, the moon. Among the Teutonicks, hol and heil have the same meaning; whence the adjective holig, or heilig, is derived, and signifies divine or holy; and the aspiration being changed into s, the Romans form their Sol. William Baxter

   1. Any thing made in a round form.

   The worms with many feet, which round themselves into balls under logs of timber, but not in the timber. Francis Bacon.

   Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield,
   But whirl from leathern strings huge balls of lead. Dryden.

   Like a ball of snow tumbling down a hill, he gathered strength as he passed. James Howell, Vocal Forest.

   Still unripen’d in the dewy mines,
   Within the ball a trembling water shines,
   That through the chrystal darts. Joseph Addison, Rem. on Italy.

   Such of those corpuscles as happened to combine into one mass, formed the metallick and mineral balls, or nodules, which we find. John Woodward, Natural History.

   2. A round thing to play with, either with the hand or foot, or a racket.

   Balls to the stars, and thralls to fortune’s reign,
   Turn’d from themselves, infected with their cage,
   Where death is fear’d, and life is held with pain. Philip Sidney.

   Those I have seen play at ball, grow extremely earnest who should have the ball. Philip Sidney.

   3. A small round thing, with some particular mark, by which votes are given, or lots cast.

   Let lots decide it.
   For ev’ry number’d captive put a ball
   Into an urn; three only black be there,
   The rest, all white, are safe. John Dryden, Don Sebastian.

   Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears;
   Round in his urn the blended balls he rowls;
   Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. Dryden.

   4. A globe; as, the ball of the earth

   Julius and Antony, those lords of all,
   Low at her feet present the conquer’d ball. George Granville.

   Ye gods, what justice rules the ball?
   Freedom and arts together fall. Alexander Pope.

   5. A globe borne as an ensign of sovereignty.

   Hear the tragedy of a young man, that by right ought to hold the ball of a kingdom; but, by fortune, is made himself a ball, tossed from misery to misery, and from place to place. Francis Bacon, Henry VII.

   6. Any part of the body that approaches to roundness; as the lower and swelling part of the thumb, the apple of the eye.

   Be subject to no sight but mine; invisible
   To every eye ball else. William Shakespeare, Tempest.

   To make a stern countenance, let your brow bend so, that that it may almost touch the ball of the eye. Henry Peacham.

   7. The parchment spread over a hollow piece of wood, stuffed with hair or wool, which the printers dip in ink, to spread it on the letters.

2. Ballnoun

   An entertainment of dancing, at which the preparations are made at the expence of some particular person.

   Etymology: bal , Fr. from ballare , low Lat. from βαλλίζειν, to dance.

   If golden sconces hang not on the walls,
   To light the costly suppers and the balls. Dryden.

   He would make no extraordinary figure at a ball; but I can assure the ladies, for their consolation, that he has writ better verses on the sex than any man. Jonathan Swift.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BALL

   BALL (Biochemical Algorithms Library) is a C++ class framework and set of algorithms and data structures for molecular modelling and computational structural bioinformatics, a Python interface to this library, and a graphical user interface to BALL, the molecule viewer BALLView. BALL has evolved from a commercial product into free-of-charge open-source software licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). BALLView is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) license. BALL and BALLView have been ported to the operating systems Linux, macOS, Solaris, and Windows. The molecule viewer BALLView, also developed by the BALL project team, is a C++ application of BALL using Qt, and OpenGL with the real-time ray tracer RTFact as render back-ends. For both, BALLView offers three-dimensional and stereoscopic visualizing in several different modes, and applying directly the algorithms of the BALL library via its graphical user interface. The BALL project is developed and maintained by groups at Saarland University, Mainz University, and University of Tübingen. Both the library and the viewer are used for education and research. BALL packages have been made available in the Debian project.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ball

   A ball is a round or spherical object, usually used in sports or games. It can be made of various materials such as leather, rubber, or plastic, and comes in different sizes to suit specific sports or activities. In mathematics, a ball is a three-dimensional space within a specific radius around a central point.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ballnoun

   any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow

2. Ballnoun

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

3. Ballnoun

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

4. Ballnoun

   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. Ballnoun

   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. Ballnoun

   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. Ballnoun

   a roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot

8. Ballnoun

   a large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus

9. Ballnoun

   the globe or earth

10. Ballverb

    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

11. Ballverb

    to heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling

12. Ballverb

    to form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton

13. Ballnoun

    a social assembly for the purpose of dancing

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ball

   A ball is a formal dance. Attenders wear evening attire, which is specified on the invitation as black tie or white tie. Social dance forms a large part of the evening; actual ballroom dancing may or may not occur.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ball

   bawl, 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.&mdamdash;v.i. to gather itself into a ball, become clogged.—ns. Ball′-cart′ridge, a cartridge containing both powder and ball [Ball and Cartridge]; 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. [M. E. bal, Scand. böllr; cog. with Old High Ger. ballo, pallo.]

2. Ball

   bawl, n. an entertainment of dancing.—n. Ball′room.—To open the ball, to begin the dancing, to begin operations. [O. Fr. bal, baller, to dance—Low L. ballare, referred by some to Gr. ballizein.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ball

   In a general sense, implies a spherical and round body, whether naturally so or formed into that figure by art. In a military view it comprehends all sorts of bullets for fire-arms, from the cannon to the pistol: also those pyrotechnic projectiles for guns or mortars, whether intended to destroy, or only to give light, smoke, or stench.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ball

   Is a general term applied to every kind of spherical shot fired from a musket, rifle, or cannon. Leaden balls are chiefly used for the small-arms and iron for the artillery. See Cartridge, Shot, Shells.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ball

   A type of product created for a specific sport.

   A ball is used for football, Rugby, Tennis etc.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on February 13, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. ball

   Song lyrics by ball -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by ball on the Lyrics.com website.

2. BALL

   What does BALL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the BALL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

3. Ball

   Ball vs. Bawl -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Ball and Bawl.

Etymology and OriginsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Ball

   A dancing party received this name primarily from the curious ancient Ball Play in Church by the Dean and choir boys of Naples during the “Feast of Fools” at Easter. While singing an antiphon the boys caught the ball thrown by the Dean as they danced around him. At private dancing parties the dancers always threw a ball at one another as, to the sound of their own voices, they whirled around in sets, the pastime consisting in loosening hands in time to catch it. Afterwards the ball was discarded, but the dance time received the name of a Ballad, from the Latin ballare, to dance.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BALL

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Ball is ranked #508 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Ball surname appeared 66,059 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 22 would have the surname Ball.
   
   82.3% or 54,380 total occurrences were White.
   12% or 7,927 total occurrences were Black.
   2.3% or 1,552 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.7% or 1,176 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.9% or 634 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.5% or 383 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Actress
   • Agglomeration
   • Comedienne
   • Dance
   • Game Equipment
   • Gonad
   • Male Reproductive Gland
   • Plaything
   • Shot
   • Sphere
   • Structure
   • Wind

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'BALL' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1532

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'BALL' in Written Corpus Frequency: #879

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'BALL' in Nouns Frequency: #520

How to pronounce BALL?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say BALL in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of BALL in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of BALL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of BALL in a Sentence

1. Cody Martin:

   That was a main emphasis for us going into the game, just sharing the ball, just making sure it wasn’t stagnant.

2. John Mozeliak:

   You can personally Google Nolan and find him playing Wiffle Ball, and when big league players are playing Wiffle Ball, that just means they love the game, right? And so that’s a telltale. And then when I talk to other players about Nolan and what impresses them about him, they always came back to how hard he worked, desire to learn, high baseball IQ.

3. Tuti Jones:

   Once the buzzer went off, I saw the ball didn't go through the net. It hurt.

4. Griffey Sr.:

   They made contact, they played hard, just like we did, and they still had to hit the ball. They still did it.

5. Curtis Sliwa:

   I hold the mayor completely responsible for this because he’s taken a wrecking ball to our police department.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=BALL
2. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=BALL
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/BALL
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=BALL
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=BALL
8. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=BALL
9. ^ Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59563/pg59563-images.html
10. ^ Etymology and Origins
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/54657/pg54657-images.html#:~:text=BALL
11. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html