ball

ball

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of ball in English

English Online Dictionary. What means ball‎? What does ball mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bôl, IPA(key): /bɔːl/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /bɔl/, (cot–caught merger) /bɑl/
  • Homophones: bawl; (cot–caught merger) Basle
  • Rhymes: -ɔːl

Etymology 1

    From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰol-n- (“ball, bubble”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”). Cognate with Old Saxon ball, Dutch bal, Old High German bal, ballo (German Ball (“ball”); Ballen (“bale”)). Related forms in Romance are borrowings from Germanic. See also balloon, bale.

    Noun

    ball (countable and uncountable, plural balls)

    2. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
      1. A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
    3. (mathematics) Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.
      1. (mathematics) In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the volume bounded by a sphere.
      2. (mathematics) The set of points in a metric space of any number of dimensions lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point.
      3. (mathematics) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point.
    4. (ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.
      1. A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
      2. (uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.
    5. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body.
      1. (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
    6. The globe; the earthly sphere.
      • c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World
        What, though in solemn Silence, all / Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!
    8. (sports, countable) An object that is the focus of many sports and games, in which it may be thrown, caught, kicked, bounced, rolled, chased, retrieved, hit with an instrument, spun, etc., usually roughly spherical or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game
      1. (uncountable) Any sport or game involving a ball; its play, literally or figuratively.
      3. (baseball, countable) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
      4. (pinball, countable) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
      5. (cricket, countable) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
      6. (originally soccer, countable) a kick (or hit in e.g. field hockey) of the ball towards where one or more teammates is expected to be. (Distinguished from a pass by a longer distance travelled or less specific target point.)
    9. (mildly vulgar, slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
      1. (in the plural) Nonsense.
      2. (in the plural) Courage.
    10. (printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
    11. (farriery, historical) A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
    12. (slang, countable, uncountable, singular only) One thousand US dollars.
    Synonyms
    • sphere
    • globe
    • (testicle): See Thesaurus:testicle
    • (nonsense): See Thesaurus:nonsense
    • (courage): chutzpah, guts, nerve
    Derived terms

    (testicle):

    Descendants
    • → Cantonese: 波 (bo1)
    • → Japanese: ボール (bōru)
    • → Makah: ba·la
    • → Yoruba: bọ́ọ̀lù
    Translations

    Verb

    ball (third-person singular simple present balls, present participle balling, simple past and past participle balled)

    1. (transitive) To form or wind into a ball.
      Synonyms: roll up, wad
    2. (metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
    3. (transitive, US, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate with
    4. (ambitransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet or skis, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
    5. (slang, usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
    6. (university slang) To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Short for blackball.)
    7. (nonstandard, slang) To play basketball.
    8. (transitive) To punish by affixing a ball and chain.
    9. (transitive) Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat.
    11. (intransitive) To operate (a vehicle) at high speed (whether balls-out, balls to the wall, or ballin' the jack, each of which comes ultimately from ball via a different route).
      Near-synonym: haul ass
    Derived terms
    Translations

    Interjection

    ball

    1. (sports) An exclamation to inform players on an adjacent playing area that a loose ball from another game has entered their playing area; typically implies that play should be paused until the ball has been retrieved.
    2. (Australian rules football) An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player.
    See also
    • fore

    References

    Etymology 2

    From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler (“to dance”), from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

    Noun

    ball (plural balls)

    1. A formal dance.
    2. (informal) A very enjoyable time.
      Synonyms: blast, whale of a time
    3. A competitive event among young African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ people in which prizes are awarded for drag and similar performances. See ball culture.
    Derived terms
    Related terms
    • ballad
    • ballade
    Translations

    Catalan

    Etymology

    Borrowed from French bal (“a dance”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbaʎ]
    • Rhymes: -aʎ

    Noun

    ball m (plural balls)

    1. dance
    2. ball, formal dance

    Synonyms

    • dansa

    Derived terms

    • ball de bastons

    Related terms

    • ballar

    Crimean Tatar

    Etymology

    Borrowed from French balle (“ball”).

    Noun

    ball

    1. estimation, score

    Declension

    References

    • Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[12], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

    East Central German

    Etymology

    Compare German bald.

    Adverb

    ball

    1. (Erzgebirgisch) soon

    Further reading

    Icelandic

    Etymology

    Borrowed from French bal (“a dance”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /palː/
    • Rhymes: -alː

    Noun

    ball n (genitive singular balls, nominative plural böll)

    1. dance

    Declension

    Irish

    Etymology

    From Old Irish ball, from Proto-Celtic *ballos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”); compare English ball, Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).

    Pronunciation

    • (Munster) IPA(key): /bˠɑul̪ˠ/
    • (Galway) IPA(key): /bˠɑːl̪ˠ/
    • (Mayo, Ulster) IPA(key): /bˠal̪ˠ/

    Noun

    ball m (genitive singular baill, nominative plural baill)

    1. (anatomy) organ
    2. component part
    3. member
    4. article
    5. spot, place
    6. spot, mark
    7. (set theory) element, member

    Declension

    Derived terms

    Mutation

    References

    Further reading

    • Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ball”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

    Middle English

    Etymology 1

    From Old English *beall.

    Noun

    ball

    1. Alternative form of bal

    Etymology 2

    Probably from Old French bale.

    Noun

    ball

    1. Alternative form of bale (“bale”)

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Etymology 1

    From Old Norse bǫllr.

    Noun

    ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural baller, definite plural ballene)

    1. ball (solid or hollow sphere)
    2. ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    Borrowed from French bal.

    Noun

    ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball or baller, definite plural balla or ballene)

    1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)
    Derived terms
    • ballkjole
    • ballsal

    References

    • “ball” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Etymology 1

    From Old Norse bǫllr.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /balː/
    • IPA(key): /baʎː/ (palatalized, Trøndelag and Northern Norway)

    Noun

    ball m (definite singular ballen, indefinite plural ballar, definite plural ballane)

    1. a ball (solid or hollow sphere)
    2. a ball (object, usually spherical, used for playing games)
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    Borrowed from French bal.

    Noun

    ball n (definite singular ballet, indefinite plural ball, definite plural balla)

    1. ball (formal social occasion involving dancing)
    Derived terms
    • ballkjole
    • ballsal

    References

    • “ball” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

    Old Irish

    Etymology

    From Proto-Celtic *ballos.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [bal͈]

    Noun

    ball m

    1. a body part
    2. member of a group
      • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 89c11
    3. part, portion
    4. a colored spot

    Declension

    Descendants

    • Irish: ball
    • Scottish Gaelic: ball

    Mutation

    Further reading

    • Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

    Scottish Gaelic

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /paul̪ˠ/

    Etymology 1

    From Old Irish ball m (“limb, member, organ; member of community; part, portion, piece; article, object; place, spot; passage (of a book); spot, mark, blemish”) (compare Irish ball), from Proto-Celtic *ballos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, swell, inflate”) (compare English ball, Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”)).

    Noun

    ball m (genitive singular buill, plural buill)

    1. member (of a group)
    2. article, item
    3. (anatomy) organ; limb
    Derived terms
    • Ball Pàrlamaid, BP (“Member of Parliament, MP”)
    • ballrachd (“membership”)
    • BPA

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English bal and/or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to blow, inflate, swell”).

    Noun

    ball m (genitive singular buill, plural buill)

    1. ball
    Derived terms

    Mutation

    Further reading

    • Edward Dwelly (1911) “ball”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎[14], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
    • Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ball”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

    Swedish

    Etymology

    (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈbalː/

    Adjective

    ball

    1. (slang) cool, hip, fun, entertaining
      Synonym: cool

    Declension

    References

    • ball in Svensk ordbok (SO)
    • ball in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
    • ball in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

    Yola

    Etymology

    From Middle English bal, from Old English *beall.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /bal/

    Noun

    ball

    1. ball

    Derived terms

    • balbeedhel

    References

    • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 84

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    This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.