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ball

verb

  1. form into a ball shape
L30029 on Wikidata ↗

noun

  1. dance party
  2. round object
  3. elastic round object used in sports or for playing
L3353 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /bɔːl/ / /boːl/ / /bɔl/

intj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *balluz Old English *beall Middle English bal English ball 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.

  1. 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. An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player.

    A good tackle (and some bad ones) will bring a cry of "Ball!" from the crowd – a plea for a holding the ball free kick.

name

Etymology: Multiple theories and origins. * From a short form of the Middle English given name Baldwin. * A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball). * From the Old Norse given name Balle. * A habitational surname for a person from Ball, Cornwall, from Cornish Pelen.

  1. An English surname.
  2. A town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States.
  3. A hamlet in Egloshayle parish, on the eastern outskirts of Wadebridge, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SX0073).

noun

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

  1. A formal dance.

    We still have pictures from the ball we had in August 2008.

  2. A very enjoyable time.

    I had a ball at that concert.

  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.

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der. Proto-Germanic *balluz Old English *beall Middle English bal English ball 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.

  1. To form or wind into a ball.

    to ball cotton

    She balled her fists.

  2. To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
  3. To have sexual intercourse (with).

    Max says it works both ways. “I mean if she comes in and tells me she wants to ball Don, maybe, I say ‘O.K., baby, it's your trip.’”

    Jefferson Fuck Poland wrote of three other anti-free-sex influences: […]heroin use (“Junkies rarely ball, unless for cash to buy junk. Heroin provides an orgasmic feeling of its own while suppressing sexual desire”); […].

  4. To gather balls which cling to the feet or skis, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.

    the horse balls

    the snow balls

  5. To be hip or cool.
  6. To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Ellipsis of blackball).

    This highlights the issue of toxic masculinity in fraternities: a pledge only becomes a man, or a brother, by enduring as much abuse as he can and by proving his competence with girls. If he cannot, he is not only "balled" but seen as a "faggot" (this is a term directly from the work).

    All of these things are done by pledges in hopes of not getting 'balled' or kicked out.

  7. To play basketball.

    fuck it, we ball

  8. To spend money extravagantly.
  9. To punish by affixing a ball and chain.

    any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day.

  10. Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat.
  11. 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

    Hang back for a bit — that Peterbilt in the left lane is really ballin’ and I'd rather not be real close to him.