Word: ball Part of Speech: noun 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”), 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. Pronunciation: /bɔːl/, /boːl/, /bɔl/, /baːl/, /bɑl/ 1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a ball of spittle; a fecal ball 2. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a ball of wool; a ball of twine 3. Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane. Labels: countable, uncountable 5. Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane. Labels: countable, uncountable 6. A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: […] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […] Example: I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion. 8. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the ball of the thumb 9. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. The globe; the earthly sphere. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World What, though in solemn Silence, all / Move round the dark terrestrial Ball! Example: Thus, if eternal Justice rules the ball, / Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall; 11. 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 Labels: countable Example: Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall. Example: Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic. 12. 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 Labels: uncountable Example: The children were playing ball on the beach. Example: George played his college ball at Stanford. 13. 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 Labels: countable 14. 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 Labels: countable Example: If you get to a million points, you get another ball. 15. 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 Labels: countable 16. 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 Labels: countable Example: After Essien's poor attempt flew into the stands, Rodrigo Moreno—Bolton's on-loan winger from Benfica who was making his full Premier League debut—nearly exposed the Blues with a lovely ball for Johan Elmander, but it just skipped away from his team-mate's toes. Example: Shetland increased the lead in the 22nd minute when Kirkness shot first time from a ball that was fired into the area from outside the 25-metre line. 17. 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 Labels: countable 18. 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 Labels: countable, metonymically, uncountable 19. A testicle. Labels: countable, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar Example: Hitler has only got one ball, / Göring has two but very small, / Himmler is rather sim'lar, / But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all. 20. A testicle. Labels: countable, in-plural, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar Example: That’s a load of balls, and you know it! 21. A testicle. Labels: countable, in-plural, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar Example: I doubt he’s got the balls to tell you off. 22. A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 23. A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: The laxative alterative has not this advantage, the aloes, of which it is composed, being extremely bitter, and therefore requiring to be given in the form of a ball. 24. One thousand US dollars. Labels: countable, singular, singular-only, slang, uncountable Example: I'ma let these niggas have it, go on stage and throw a forty ball Example: Forty ball all in these leather jeans Diamonds studs, I make a bum nigga think twice