Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. 1 In engineering, a bearing assembly which uses spherical bearing balls as the rolling elements 2 In common usage, an individual spherical ball, usually made of steel or other hard material, suitable for use in a ball-based rolling element bearing
WordNet
n. bearings containing small metal balls [syn: needle bearing, roller bearing]
Wikipedia
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races.
The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least two races to contain the balls and transmit the loads through the balls. In most applications, one race is stationary and the other is attached to the rotating assembly (e.g., a hub or shaft). As one of the bearing races rotates it causes the balls to rotate as well. Because the balls are rolling they have a much lower coefficient of friction than if two flat surfaces were sliding against each other.
Ball bearings tend to have lower load capacity for their size than other kinds of rolling-element bearings due to the smaller contact area between the balls and races. However, they can tolerate some misalignment of the inner and outer races.
Ball Bearing was a 1992 television advertisement for the Lexus ES 300, which introduced the luxury sedan to American television audiences. It was created by Team One, a unit of Saatchi & Saatchi. The advertisement showed a ball bearing rolling smoothly down the panel seams of a Lexus sedan, thus demonstrating the precise quality of its exterior elements. The television spot won awards, was emulated by subsequent commercials, and was credited for focusing industry attention on body tolerances.
Usage examples of "ball bearing".
That the Quinn Ball Bearing Company should vanish from across the street had seemed inconceivable.
Earth itself could have rolled around that ring disc, like a ball bearing on a plate.
The cradle was loaded not with a ball bearing but a glass paperweight that sat on a table in the hall of the Fairview house.
Then the re-loading, the swabber pushing wet sponges down the barrel with a long sssshhhhhh of steam to quench sparks, the powder-bag and wad, two loaders tipping the heavy steel ball in like a giant ball bearing, the rammer pushing it down, the crew hauling on the tackle to run the gun forward again and the captain slamming in a new friction-fuse, glaring over the barrel, heaving on a handspike, spinning the elevation screw and making hand signals to the crew to push the breech around and bring the gun to bear.
Each point was the metal reflection of a ball bearing, the shiny wick of a candle.