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ball
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ball
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a board/ball game
▪ board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble
ball and chain
▪ The lower-tech side of the business was seen as a ball and chain.
ball bearing
ball boy
ball game
▪ I used to be a teacher, so working in an office is a whole new ball game.
ball girl
ball park
▪ Their estimate is in the right ball park.
beach ball
blasted...ball
▪ With six minutes remaining, he blasted the ball through the Coleraine defences for his 19th goal of the season.
bowling ball
chipped...ball
▪ United scored just before half-time when Adcock cleverly chipped the ball over the keeper.
crystal ball
cue ball
fly ball
golf ball
jump ball
loose ball
▪ Sheringham was the first player to reach the loose ball.
masked ball
no ball
roll sth into a ball/tube
▪ Roll the dough into small balls.
steals the ball
▪ Roy steals the ball four times in the first half.
Swiss ball
the ball of your foot (=the rounded part of your foot at the base of the toes)
▪ He has a blister on the ball of his foot.
the belle of the ball (=the most beautiful girl at a dance or party)
wedding/evening/ball gown
▪ a white silk wedding gown
wrecking ball
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
bearing
▪ There must be an old Navy uniform and a few ball bearings somewhere on Treasure Island.
▪ They were rolling it on rusty ball bearings.
▪ Once fired, the blast would fire the ball bearings out toward the enemy and covered quite an area.
▪ In the first system the rotation of the mouse's wheels or ball bearing are transferred to rollers.
▪ The football's got ball bearings in it.
▪ Many machines use ball bearings to reduce friction.
cricket
▪ Now the hard leather cricket ball had inflamed this old injury.
▪ Can his death really be blamed on a cricket ball?
▪ Winston Churchill, with extraordinary perspicacity, wrote at the time: Meeting an artillery attack is like catching a cricket ball.
▪ Meeting an artillery attack is like catching a cricket ball.
▪ There were no houses, no people, no hills, and not a rock bigger than a cricket ball.
crystal
▪ They must not have hired him for his political foresight, either, because his crystal ball record is abysmal.
▪ Gazing into our crystal ball, we see Scott breaking her campaign promise to not privatize Tucson Water.
▪ You are on a globe that looks like a crystal ball or a marble in a light bed of cotton wool.
▪ Not glass to reflect bit of the world, but a crystal ball to look into soas to understand the world.
▪ The scientists' crystal ball is a bit cloudy on some things though.
▪ A crystal ball in which one can call up the past?
▪ Or maybe you have seen a crystal ball containing a tiny house which you can shake to produce a brilliant snowstorm?
▪ If you are still out of work, the tribunal has to gaze into its crystal ball.
game
▪ Although not my cup of tea, I must admit Manchester United is a whole new ball game.
▪ Analysts said the company had done just what it needed to do to stay in the telephone company ball game.
▪ So obviously if he's hidden this one, he's playing a whole new ball game.
▪ Nothing works quite like finger food in terms of complementing a b-ball game.
▪ There are many simple exercises you can do to help people keep moving which can be done sitting down such as ball games.
▪ Every year it should be a slightly different ball game to keep every species slightly out of equilibrium.
▪ There is a strong argument for insisting that he is the outstanding performer in any ball game.
▪ Read in studio Still to come on Central News, it's a whole new ball game.
golf
▪ Theatre dressing room-style fittings with small golf ball bulbs are especially effective.
▪ A 3-ounce roll is the size of a golf ball.
▪ But with being a keen golfer, I developed a keen eye for a golf ball and a distance.
▪ I accept that a golf ball is inanimate.
▪ Hernias vary in size from a golf ball to a football and can strike at any age.
▪ I understand that a golf ball does not have ears or a brain or even a nervous system.
▪ It can detect a steel sphere half the size of a golf ball, at a range of 70 yards.
▪ Reunion Tower, a downtown landmark, looks like a giant, electric golf ball on 50-story tee.
gown
▪ Her ball gown was an old grey dress which she had prettified with some lengths of Brussels lace.
▪ The inaugural ball gown was an emphatic announcement that the first lady was going to play the style game her way.
▪ They are in their tuxedos and ball gowns.
▪ No one breakfasts in ball gowns anymore, but many people still dress up for the afternoon races.
▪ She wore a yellow taffeta ball gown with black pumps and matching bum bag for her liver treats!
▪ There will not be a shortage of ball gowns and tuxes.
▪ The women wore ball gowns and jewels and looked like royal butterflies.
▪ National stores have had ball gowns shipped in from all over the country.
park
▪ And the cost of a day at the ball park?
▪ He can walk to the ball park from the house.
▪ Change-up curves are what Mantle hits out of ball parks.
tennis
▪ Yes, Ezra is a tennis ball, does bounce on, off, along, over everything.
▪ You can tell her all about the time I hit a tennis ball off the moon.
▪ The cat, although nervous, appears unharmed by the tennis ball which has just struck it amidships.
▪ Luckily, that problem turned out to be nothing more than a tennis ball lodged in a downspout.
▪ More cheerfully he trotted after Lou, catching the tennis ball as it came bouncing towards him.
▪ The ghost of the tennis ball is coming to haunt the man.
▪ These days you hardly ever see a child with a small rubber or tennis ball.
▪ My cheek was swollen like I had misplaced a tennis ball.
■ VERB
bowl
▪ Rawson then bowled the next ball wide of the stumps before joining his team in a frantic dash for the pavilion.
▪ He rolls around the bed like a loose bowling ball in the trunk of the car.
▪ With the scores level, Akram then had Mallender caught at slip via a rebound and bowled Tufnell next ball.
▪ His face was smooth as a bowling ball, the skin tight and bright, masking hard inner muscle.
▪ Place a set of wickets about ten feet from a second position from where a person is going to bowl a ball.
▪ Fairbrother, on 18, was bowled by a quicker ball from Warnaweera.
catch
▪ The ever-enthusiastic and friendly Bobby Skinstad volunteered to lift me up from behind for me to catch the ball.
▪ The Steeler receivers run well after they catch the ball, so you have to tackle well in the secondary.
▪ Winston Churchill, with extraordinary perspicacity, wrote at the time: Meeting an artillery attack is like catching a cricket ball.
▪ He caught the ball in rhythm and drained the 3-pointer with 15. 7 seconds left.
▪ More cheerfully he trotted after Lou, catching the tennis ball as it came bouncing towards him.
▪ In fact, Alou was scratched because he jammed his left wrist the night before trying to catch a home-run ball.
▪ He helps in a lot of other ways than catching the ball.
▪ He caught the ball and took off, all 320 pounds of him.
drop
▪ With outstretched arm he dropped the ball in the circle.
▪ Parore dropped Lewis first ball, and again before stumps.
▪ That was before Muirbrook dropped the ball, which Raiders cornerback Lionel Washington recovered.
▪ Those who drop the ball return to number one and those below that number move up one place.
▪ Another time he dropped a ball of crunched-up math paper on my desk.
▪ My handling skills have always been reasonable in all sports, and I managed to complete the exercise without dropping a ball.
▪ If a 260 tennis coach followed this philosophy, students would practice dropping the ball for a week.
get
▪ Then Page gets the ball on the half way line.
▪ Illinois gets the ball and Eddie promptly steals it.
▪ Platt got the ball in the net again after 31 minutes, but he was ruled offside.
▪ They are so good at forcing turnovers and getting the ball out.
▪ I got the glass ball in one hand and the arrow in the other.
▪ The object in every game for us is to get the ball to Tim Brown early because he is our go-to guy.
▪ He looks dangerous every time he gets the ball.
▪ I really wanted to get the ball in the end zone to put the game out of reach.
hit
▪ Also, some think that because they are holding a driver they have to hit the ball much harder.
▪ You can tell her all about the time I hit a tennis ball off the moon.
▪ Some one who hits the ball with great accuracy on the volley and with some power too.
▪ I hit the ball well and a very loud cheer went up.
▪ On the other hand, I do hit the ball tremendously hard and with various violent spins.
▪ Pow, Janir hit a long ball into the blackberry bushes beside the creek.
▪ That created a little space and I just hit the ball.
▪ His strength was hitting the ball to left.
hold
▪ He said he felt like somebody grabbed his arm to keep him from holding the ball.
▪ You hold one ball in each hand.
▪ Nobody gained much, but Hicks held on to the ball.
▪ She was just standing there beaming, holding this big ball of fluff in her arms.
▪ After the catch, he crashed hard into the barrier but held on to the ball.
▪ His great skill is to be able to hold the ball back without changing his action.
▪ Young, holding the ball a little too long, came through the sacks without a dent.
keep
▪ Peter was as steady as a rock, keeping the ball on the fairway and hitting nearly every green in regulation.
▪ It was she, far more than her husband, who kept the conversational ball rolling.
▪ Nowadays, even wings are expected, like everyone else, to keep the ball available.
▪ We wanted to shorten the game and keep the ball away from their offense.
▪ I went, I tried the game, and I liked it straight off, even though I kept missing the ball.
▪ Volume 2 deals with general idioms e.g. keep the ball rolling, the proof of the pudding.
▪ For the boys, there is no point in the repetitive instructions to keep the ball on the ground.
kick
▪ After a few laps of the track we could kick a ball about or even have a go at throwing a javelin.
▪ So when they played after school, they improvised by kicking a tennis ball.
▪ You can also invent little games, such as kicking a ball in a bucket or bowl of water.
▪ Just kicked the ball, I guess.
▪ There is only one option left for the attacking team - to kick the ball.
▪ Did you kick the ball and then run fast?
▪ That would soon stop teams kicking the ball away.
▪ They remind you of a bunch of schoolboys wandering down a lonely road, kicking a ball along.
lose
▪ Iain Balshaw was turned over on the wing, only for Queensland to lose the ball again.
▪ The rules allow five minutes to search for a lost ball.
▪ He lost the ball in a tackle and so spilled CI's chances of a perfect start.
▪ He lost the ball when he hit the turf but recovered the loose ball.
▪ Five minutes later the same player received the ball in a dangerous position after Shuhel Milque lost the ball in midfield.
▪ The pack is strong, but we lost lots of lineout ball in Dublin and never got going.
▪ To lose your own ball in a line-out is more damaging than losing a strike against the head.
move
▪ We wanted to move the ball wide to allow Sella and Mesnel some space.
▪ We drove down the field and did a good job moving the ball.
▪ Look how far the head has moved past the ball.
▪ It was a night when they moved the ball smartly around the perimeter and hit the key shots.
▪ It is a little like throwing a ball out of a moving train.
▪ He likes to move the ball quickly and prefers to throw in the 10-20-yard range.
▪ He attempted to escape by hitting a nine-iron left-handed but succeeded in only moving the ball a couple of inches.
▪ They moved the ball, hit the open man, hustled and scrapped.
pass
▪ Eventually, some one passed me the ball.
▪ The midfielders and defenders passed the ball around in their end of the field, 10 or 15 passes at a time.
▪ There was a moment, during a general kick-about, when some one passed me the ball.
▪ The Ramblers pass a soccer ball back and forth, a display of agility and grace.
▪ He rarely passes the ball away, and in his role you need that.
▪ So Kobe Bryant passed the ball to Duncan in the final seconds for the West.
▪ They have so much attacking talent, pass the ball crisply, move lithely and carve out openings galore.
▪ But Dollar does not pass the ball as Edney comes at him.
pick
▪ From a hurried clearance, I think, Wallace picked up the ball and went past 4 defenders to the bye-line.
▪ I thought she was going to pick up the ball or something, she was so small.
▪ His mistakes usually make Lukic pick the ball out of the net.
▪ It was Cooper picking off the ball and feeding Thompson.
▪ The man had picked up the ball, and peered down at Nick through dark-rimmed, bleary eyes.
▪ He picked up the ball and walked the length of the yard with six of us hanging on him.
▪ He picked up the ball 25 yards out and attempted to chip Royce.
▪ After the Luisenos gain a quick advantage, however, a Sanjuaneno picks up the ball.
play
▪ The first option is to play the ball as it lies.
▪ It was a timeless scene: a brick house, a mown meadow, a man and his boy playing ball.
▪ This now prevents players who are in front of the ball from advancing forward towards an opponent waiting to play the ball.
▪ She played ball, she had difficulty with spelling, and she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up.
▪ These are the two accepted ways of playing the rising ball.
▪ Unfortunately, the team is playing catch-up and make-up ball.
▪ He has no one to play ball with and tosses his ball against the wall in a most despondent fashion.
▪ When they break a window playing ball or lose something that belongs to a friend, they should make amends.
roll
▪ I rolled out like a ball but sneaked back in on the back seat.
▪ He picked lint from his pants, rolled it into a ball, and flicked it across the room.
▪ They were rolling it on rusty ball bearings.
▪ At first, the teacher would play just with Hannah, rolling a ball to her.
▪ Hateley instantly exploited the error, rolling the ball back to Ian Ferguson and what followed was hell for defender Sergei Fokine.
▪ He can move forwards, rolling the ball forwards, and then come back almost to sit on his heels.
▪ A hedgehog tries to climb up the net and when it hears you approach it promptly rolls up into a ball.
▪ He rolled it into a ball, put it into his mouth, chewed.
run
▪ So, far from encouraging sides to run the ball more often, we have the opposite.
▪ When we ran the ball and we blocked I got yards.
▪ The sessions will include all the usual techniques like running with the ball, passing, defending, shooting and more.
▪ I really think they thought they were going to run the ball with him.
▪ When you run your healing ball within yourself, you must roll it everywhere.
▪ They planned on running the ball.
▪ Here we had to run, with the ball, through two players holding padded tackle bags.
▪ Kansas City wants to run the ball.
throw
▪ Children were playing and throwing a ball for each other to catch.
▪ I would throw the ball and he would just sit there with a stupid look on his face.
▪ It is a little like throwing a ball out of a moving train.
▪ Take the act of throwing a ball.
▪ Not bad for hitting, throwing and catching a ball - but also unaffordable.
▪ Young should have thrown the ball away on second-and-goal from the 5.
▪ The rest of the team try to throw the ball to their catcher and if they succeed they get a point.
▪ He throws an imaginary ball in the air and serves it to the horizon.
touch
▪ If a defending player has a loose lace and this touches the ball, may the attacking side drop for goal?
▪ Napoleon Kaufman, making his third consecutive start, certainly wants to touch the ball more frequently.
▪ Also the incident when he hacked their left winger in the box, he never touched the ball.
▪ This was another night to greet Scottie Pippen with a constant chorus of boos every time he touched the ball.
▪ Tortolano fed Weir and he touched the ball on to McGinlay, who ran through a porous home defence to score easily.
▪ Terrell and I knew we would touch the ball a limited number of times.
▪ O'Connell's header found Graham completely unmarked inside the penalty box but Goram did enough to touch the ball on to the bar.
▪ The first-half, however, may be best remembered for what happened to a player who hardly touched the ball.
turn
▪ It bounced up and I turned to see the ball hovering above my stumps.
▪ The penalty gave the Jaguars a first down instead of having to turn the ball over to the Raiders.
▪ Gary Lund raced in for the rebound but Marker turned the ball round the post.
▪ Sprinkle the sesame seeds over it. Turn each ball around in the coating, lightly pressing it in.
▪ But no, as I watched, he turned a ball elegantly off his legs and called for a quick single.
▪ There are not many times you can turn the ball over five times and win.
▪ Grobbelaar flapped at McGee's cross and when Miller drove in a low shot Sanchez turned the ball into the net.
▪ They missed 10 of 26 free throws and turned the ball over 16 times.
win
▪ He wanted to win the ball and did not have the slightest intention of injuring Uzzell, he added.
▪ For this we needed to win quick ball in the loose where Tordo was excellent.
▪ But London won enough of the ball for Carling to display his acceleration and his priceless ability to time a pass.
▪ United keeper, Paul Kee should have won the ball, punched it clear.
▪ Clarke won plenty of line-out ball, but Andy Reed and Paul Burnell in the front five did not contribute as expected.
▪ However, real problems may arise once Leinster attempt to win the loose ball.
▪ Gloucester's problem was that they still could not win enough of the ball.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a ball-park figure/estimate/amount
a whole new ball game
▪ I used to be a teacher, so working in an office is a whole new ball game.
▪ Although not my cup of tea, I must admit Manchester United is a whole new ball game.
▪ Read in studio Still to come on Central News, it's a whole new ball game.
▪ So obviously if he's hidden this one, he's playing a whole new ball game.
in the (right) ball park
play ball
▪ He has no one to play ball with and tosses his ball against the wall in a most despondent fashion.
▪ It seemed clear to us that we would always have the time to play ball and get better as we went along.
▪ It was a timeless scene: a brick house, a mown meadow, a man and his boy playing ball.
▪ She played ball, she had difficulty with spelling, and she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up.
▪ The editor would have doubled it, if you'd played ball with me.
▪ There is a simple, inexpensive solution for those who refuse to play ball with the system.
▪ When they break a window playing ball or lose something that belongs to a friend, they should make amends.
spike the ball
▪ William Floyd, after a run to nowhere, spiked the ball a mile high.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a big beach ball
▪ Comets are balls of ice and dirt that circle the sun.
▪ It was the first time I'd ever been invited to a ball.
▪ Mommy, where's my ball?
▪ Shape the cookie dough into balls and put them in the refrigerator.
▪ The kitten was playing with a ball of yarn.
▪ The University holds a summer ball at the end of June.
▪ When hedgehogs are in danger, they curl their bodies into tight balls.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Alomar said it was a ball.
▪ But suddenly the sight of Giuseppe Signori's invitingly lofted ball into the penalty area put a spring in his step.
▪ Instead of bowling the ball, which bore a small silver shield, Mr Cottle threw it at a low-flying swan.
▪ Lukic must have seen the ball extremely late but still managed to get down well.
▪ She wants it for a ball, this poor unbalanced girl.
▪ The 49ers had the ball on the Bengals' 6-yard line, first-and-goal, down by a touchdown.
▪ The mallet whacked into the wooden ball, and the women laughed as the men groaned.
▪ Then she travels with the ball.
II.verb
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a ball-park figure/estimate/amount
a whole new ball game
▪ I used to be a teacher, so working in an office is a whole new ball game.
▪ Although not my cup of tea, I must admit Manchester United is a whole new ball game.
▪ Read in studio Still to come on Central News, it's a whole new ball game.
▪ So obviously if he's hidden this one, he's playing a whole new ball game.
in the (right) ball park
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ In that time Dean is balling Marylou at the hotel and gives me time to change and dress.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ball

Ball \Ball\ (b[add]l), n. [OE. bal, balle; akin to OHG. balla, palla, G. ball, Icel. b["o]llr, ball; cf. F. balle. Cf. 1st Bale, n., Pallmall.]

  1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow.

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

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

  4. 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. (Pyrotechnics & Mil.) 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. (Print.) 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. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot.

  8. (Far.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus.
    --White.

  9. The globe or earth.
    --Pope.

    Move round the dark terrestrial ball.
    --Addison.

  10. (Baseball) A pitched ball, not struck at by the batter, which fails to pass over the home plate at a height not greater than the batter's shoulder nor less than his knee (i.e. it is outside the strike zone). If the pitcher pitches four balls before three strikes are called, the batter advances to first base, and the action of pitching four balls is called a walk.

    10. a testicle; usually used in the plural. [vulgar]

  11. pl. courage; nerve. [vulgar]

    Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits.

    Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls.

    Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished from a blank cartridge, containing only powder.

    Ball cock, a faucet or valve which is opened or closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever.

    Ball gudgeon, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket.
    --Knight.

    Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock.

    Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as distinguished from its lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye.

    Ball valve (Mach.), a contrivance by which a ball, placed in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a valve.

    Ball vein (Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles.

    Three balls, or Three golden balls, a pawnbroker's sign or shop.

    on the ball alert; competent and knowledgeable.

    to carry the ball to carry on the task; to assume the responsibility.

    to drop the ball to fail to perform as expected; to fail to live up to a responsibility.

    Syn: See Globe.

Ball

Ball \Ball\, n. [F. bal, fr. OF. baler to dance, fr. LL. ballare. Of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. ba`llein to toss or throw, or pa`llein, pa`llesqai, to leap, bound, balli`zein to dance, jump about; or cf. 1st Ball, n.]

  1. A social assembly for the purpose of dancing; -- usually applied to an occasion lavish or formal.

  2. A very enjoyable time; as, we had a ball at the wedding.

Ball

Ball \Ball\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Balled (b[add]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Balling.] 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.

Ball

Ball \Ball\, v. t.

  1. (Metal.) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.

  2. To form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ball

"round object," Old English *beal, from or corresponding to Old Norse bollr "ball," from Proto-Germanic *balluz (cognates: Old High German ballo, German Ball), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).\n

\nMeaning "testicle" is from early 14c. Ball of the foot is from mid-14c. A ball as an object in a sports game is recorded from c.1200; To have the ball "hold the advantage" is from c.1400. To be on the ball is 1912, from sports. Ball-point pen first recorded 1946. Ball of fire when first recorded in 1821 referred to "a glass of brandy;" as "spectacularly successful striver" it is c.1900.

ball

"dancing party," 1630s, from French, from Old French baller "to dance," from Late Latin ballare "to dance," from Greek ballizein "to dance, jump about" (see ballistics). Hence, "very enjoyable time," 1945, American English slang, perhaps back to 1930s in black slang.

ball

1650s, "make into a ball," from ball (n.1). Sense of "to become like a ball" is 1713; that of "to copulate" is first recorded 1940s in jazz slang, either from the noun sense of "testicle" or "enjoyable time" (from ball (n.2)). Related: Balled; balling.

Wiktionary
ball

Etymology 1 interj. (label en Australian rules football) An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player. This is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled. n. 1 A solid or hollow sphere, or part thereof. 2 # A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape. 3 # (label en ballistics) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, etc. 4 ## A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin. 5 # A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body. 6 # (label en anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes. 7 # The globe; the earthly sphere. 8 # (label en mathematics) The set of points in a metric space lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point; specifically, the homologue of the disk in a Euclidean space of any number of dimensions. 9 # (label en mathematics more generally) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point; the analogue of the disk in a Euclidean space. 10 # An object, generally spherical, used for playing games. vb. 1 (label en transitive) To form or wind into a ball. 2 (label en metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling. 3 (label en transitive vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with. 4 (label en ambitransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls. 5 (label en slang usually in present participle) To be hip or cool. Etymology 2

n. 1 A formal dance. 2 (label en informal) A very enjoyable time.

WordNet
ball

v. form into a ball by winding or rolling; "ball wool"

ball
  1. n. 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. a solid ball shot by a musket; "they had to carry a ramrod as well as powder and ball" [syn: musket ball]

  3. an object with a spherical shape; "a ball of fire" [syn: globe, orb]

  4. the people assembled at a lavish formal dance; "the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded"

  5. one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens; "she kicked him in the balls and got away" [syn: testis, testicle, orchis, ballock, bollock, nut, egg]

  6. a spherical object used as a plaything; "he played with his rubber ball in the bathtub"

  7. United States comedienne best known as the star of a popular television program (1911-1989) [syn: Lucille Ball]

  8. a compact mass; "a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder" [syn: clod, glob, lump, clump, chunk]

  9. a lavish formal dance

  10. a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass; ball of the human foot or ball at the base of the thumb; "he stood on the balls of his feet"

  11. a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of 9 players; teams take turns at bat trying to score run; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empy lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" [syn: baseball, baseball game]

  12. a pitch that is not in the strike zone; "he threw nine straight balls before the manager yanked him"

Gazetteer
Ball, LA -- U.S. town in Louisiana
Population (2000): 3681
Housing Units (2000): 1524
Land area (2000): 8.034863 sq. miles (20.810198 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 8.034863 sq. miles (20.810198 sq. km)
FIPS code: 04055
Located within: Louisiana (LA), FIPS 22
Location: 31.407930 N, 92.402316 W
ZIP Codes (1990):
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Ball, LA
Ball
Wikipedia
Ball (disambiguation)

A ball is a round object with various uses.

Ball or balls may also refer to:

Ball (crater)

Ball is a lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged southern highlands of the Moon. The formation is circular and symmetrical, and has receive little significant wear. The interior is rough-surfaced, curving downward toward the relatively wide central peak at the midpoint.

The crater is located to the west of the crater Lexell and southeast of Gauricus. To the south is Sasserides, and further to the south-southwest is the prominent ray crater Tycho.

BALL

BALL is computer software consisting of the versatile C++ class framework BALL (Biochemical Algorithms Library), a library of algorithms and data structures for molecular modelling and computational structural bioinformatics, a Python interface to this library and an open source graphical 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, OS X, 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 heavily used for education and research. BALL packages have been made available in the Debian project in April 2010.

Ball (dance party)

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A ball at the Russian imperial court in the 1910s.]] A ball is a formal dance party.

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

Ball (bearing)

Bearing balls are special highly spherical and smooth balls, most commonly used in ball bearings, but also used as components in things like freewheel mechanisms. The balls come in many different grades. These grades are defined by bodies such as the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA), a body which sets standards for the precision of bearing balls. They are manufactured in machines designed specially for the job.

In 2008, the United States produced 5.778 billion bearing balls.

Ball (song)

"Ball" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., released on October 16, 2012, as the second official single from his eighth studio album Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head (2012). The song features a guest appearance from fellow American rapper Lil Wayne, as well as production and uncredited vocals from American record producer Rico Love. In 2013, the song was included on the soundtrack to the film Fast & Furious 6.

Ball (mathematics)

In mathematics, a ball is the space bounded by a sphere. It may be a closed ball (including the boundary points that comprise the sphere) or an open ball (excluding them).

These concepts are defined not only in three-dimensional Euclidean space but also for lower and higher dimensions, and for metric spaces in general. A ball or hyperball in dimensions is called an -ball and is bounded by an -sphere. Thus, for example, a ball in the Euclidean plane is the same thing as a disk, the area bounded by a circle. In Euclidean 3-space, a ball is taken to be the volume bounded by a 2-dimensional spherical shell. In a one-dimensional space, a ball is a line segment.

In other contexts, such as in Euclidean geometry and informal use, sphere is sometimes used to mean ball.

Ball (Widespread Panic album)

Ball is the eighth studio album released by the Athens, GA based band Widespread Panic. It was released on April 15, 2003 and it was the band's first studio album with George McConnell on lead guitar. McConnell joined the band in 2002 after the death of founding member Michael Houser.

This process of recording the album departed from the band's usual methodology. Widespread Panic's previous studio albums had included mostly songs already familiar to the band's fans. Ball, however, included 12 never-before-heard songs written specifically for the album, along with one song, Time Waits, previously performed only by singer/guitarist John Bell in solo appearances. It was also the first Widespread Panic album which did not feature at least one cover song.

The album reached a peak position of #61 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Ball (Iron Butterfly album)

Ball is the third studio album by the rock band Iron Butterfly, released in January 17 1969. After the enormous success of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Iron Butterfly modified its acid-rock sound somewhat and experimented with more melodic compositions. The band's trademark heavy guitars, however, are still evident on such tracks as "In the Time of Our Lives" and "It Must Be Love". The album reached #3 in the charts, making Ball more immediately successful than In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Ball was certified Gold in March 1969. It also spawned two minor hit singles: "Soul Experience", an uncharacteristically uplifting song for the group, went to #75 on the Billboard charts, and despite its nightmarish musical tones and morbid lyrics, "In the Time of Our Lives" managed to reach #96. This is the second and final studio album to feature the famous lineup of Ingle, Bushy, Dorman and Brann.

In 1999, Collector's Choice Music released Ball with two bonus tracks, "I Can't Help But Deceive You Little Girl" and "To Be Alone", which previously were available only on a 7" single although "I Can't Help But Deceive You Little Girl" had been released on the 1993 compilation Light And Heavy.

Ball (rhythmic gymnastics)

The Ball is an apparatus used in rhythmic gymnastics. It is made of either rubber or synthetic material (pliable plastic) provided it possesses the same elasticity as rubber. It is from 18 to 20 cm in diameter and must have a minimum weight of 400g. The ball can be of any colour. The ball should rest in the gymnast's hand and not rest against the wrist or be able to be grasped.

Fundamental elements of a ball routine include throwing, bouncing or rolling. The gymnast must use both hands and work on the whole floor area whilst showing continuous flowing movement.

The ball is sometimes placed on their back while the gymnast does a skill such as a walk-over.

Category:Rhythmic gymnastics apparatus Category:Balls

Ball (foot)

The ball of the foot is the padded portion of the sole between the toes and the arch, underneath the heads of the metatarsal bones, on which the weight of the body rests when the heel is raised. It is referred to as the "ball" because of its rounded, protuberant shape, and is alternately referred to as one of the "pads" of the feet, along with the toe and heel pads.

In comparative foot morphology, the ball is most analogous to the metacarpal (forepaw) or metatarsal (hindpaw) pad in many mammals with paws, and serves mostly the same functions.

The ball is a common area in which people develop pain, known as metatarsalgia. People who frequently wear high heels often develop pain in the balls of their feet from the immense amount of pressure that is placed on them for long periods of time, due to the inclination of the shoes. To remedy this, there is a market for ball-of-foot or general foot cushions that are placed into shoes to relieve some of the pressure. Alternately, people can have a procedure done in which a dermal filler is injected into the balls of the feet to add cushioning.

Ball (gridiron football)

In Canada and in the United States, the term football refers to a prolate spheroid ball used in the context of playing gridiron football. Footballs are often made of cow hide leather, as such a material is required in professional and collegiate football. Footballs used in recreation, and in organised youth leagues, may be made of rubber or plastic materials (the high school football rulebooks still allow the inexpensive all-rubber footballs, though they are less common than leather).

Ball (association football)

A football, soccer ball, or association football ball is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called "football", "soccer", or "association football". The ball's spherical shape, as well as its size, weight, and material composition, are specified by Law 2 of the Laws of the Game maintained by the International Football Association Board. Additional, more stringent, standards are specified by FIFA and subordinate governing bodies for the balls used in the competitions they sanction.

Early footballs began as animal bladders or stomachs that would easily fall apart if kicked too much. Improvements became possible in the 19th century with the introduction of rubber and discoveries of Vulcanization by Charles Goodyear. The modern 32-panel ball design was developed in 1962 by Eigil Nielsen, and technological research continues today to develop footballs with improved performance.

Ball (surname)

Ball is a surname of English/ German Jewish origin. First mention of the name appeared in Cheshire.

This surname has multiple potential origins, as do quite a few other short surnames:

  • one origin relates to body type and arose as a nickname, originally from Middle English
  • likewise, another origin relates to baldness, again arising as a nickname
  • another purported origin is related to living near a "knoll or rounded hill"
  • the surname may also descend from the Old Norse personal name "Balle"
  • it could be a toponymic surname, related to Ball, Cornwall, England

A multiplicity of origins for this surname is also supported by genetic analysis.

In the United Kingdom, according to a study based on data available from Experian, the surname has declined in use by 55% between 1881 and 2008, possibly though not certainly due to negative connotation elicited by the surname.

Usage examples of "ball".

Beyond, the woods and hills of the tiny world appeared to drop with an increasing, breath-taking abruptness, so that he felt as if he were perched insecurely on the top of a great green ball, afloat in a chasm of starry purple-blue.

Jacuzzi, absently squeezing the tennis ball he still absently squeezes out of habit.

It has a large round head, which is received into the acetabulum, thus affording a good illustration of a ball and socket joint.

L staff whose job was to check identifications before allowing admittance to the ball.

Certain dealers get balls made with their name on and advertise them as being superior to anything made, and very often the manufacturer cannot sell his own brand in the territory where these are.

This human cargo represents a weight of about twenty tons, which is equivalent to that of thirty persons, two boars, three sows, twelve piglets, thirty fowls, ten dogs, twenty rats, a hundred balled or potted breadfruit and banana plants, and twelve tons of watergourds, seeds, yams, tubers, coconuts, adzes and weapons.

As an afterthought, he grabbed his ball cap and threw it on his head, taking the stairs two at a time.

A sudden, agonizing fiery ball of pain shot through him, choking his words, making him stagger slightly.

Erza passed them, got within a length, flew at the hare with terrible swiftness aiming at his scut, and, thinking she had seized him, rolled over like a ball.

The cannon-fire was not followed by the alarum bells, so they knew Bluto was just sending a few balls arcing through the night to remind the Turks he was there.

Because of peole dropping bowling balls onto freeways, we have fences anclosing highway overpasses.

They comprised astronomical kaleidoscopes exhibiting the twelve constellations of the zodiac from Aries to Pisces, miniature mechanical orreries, arithmetical gelatine lozenges, geometrical to correspond with zoological biscuits, globemap playing balls, historically costumed dolls.

Gail Porter, not to mention Sherry Kolarik, the bitch, and Mary Arles, and any other women who thought they had more balls than Cliff Baxter.

And, last of those I knew well, Tamor the Armiger, Towering Tamor, poised upon the balls of his feet as though about to take flight, Grandfather Tamor, strong and dependable, quick in judgment, instant in action.

The poor fellow lost his forearm and hand when an arquebus ball took him just at the elbow and so ended his soldiering days.