ball
verb
- form into a ball shape
noun
- dance party
- round object
- elastic round object used in sports or for playing
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- An English surname.
- A town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States.
- 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.
- A formal dance.
“We still have pictures from the ball we had in August 2008.”
- A very enjoyable time.
“I had a ball at that concert.”
- 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.
- To form or wind into a ball.
“to ball cotton”
“She balled her fists.”
- To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
- 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”); […].”
- 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”
- To be hip or cool.
- 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.”
- To play basketball.
“fuck it, we ball”
- To spend money extravagantly.
- 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.”
- Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat.
- 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.”