Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings.
Wikipedia
A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball suspended from a crane that is used for building demolition.
Wrecking ball may also refer to:
Wrecking Ball is the eighteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 26, 1995 through Elektra Records. Moving away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she had become known, Harris collaborated with rock producer Daniel Lanois (best known for his production work with U2) and engineer Mark Howard. The album has been noted for atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen, Jr., Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, who wrote the title song.
Wrecking Ball is the first full-length album from the band, Dead Confederate. It was recorded in Austin, TX with producer Mike McCarthy ( Spoon, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Heartless Bastards) in January 2008.
Wrecking Ball is the seventeenth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released March 5, 2012, on Columbia Records. It was named best album of 2012 by Rolling Stone and along with the album's first single, " We Take Care of Our Own", was nominated for three Grammy Awards.
"Wrecking Ball" is a song recorded by American singer Miley Cyrus for her fourth studio album Bangerz (2013). It was released on August 25, 2013, by RCA Records as the album's second single. The song was written by MoZella, Stephan Moccio, Sacha Skarbek, Kiyanu Kim, Lukasz Gottwald, and Henry Russell Walter; production was helmed by the last two. "Wrecking Ball" is a pop ballad which lyrically discusses the deterioration of a relationship.
"Wrecking Ball" received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who appreciated its lyrical content and overall production. It debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number fifty, and later became Cyrus' first number-one single in the United States after the release of its controversial music video; it retained the peak position during the following week. Nine weeks later, the track returned to number one, and consequently had the largest gap between number-one sittings in Billboard Hot 100 history. As of January 2014, "Wrecking Ball" has sold three million copies in the United States. Internationally, the song charted strongly; it topped the charts in Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom, and charted in the top ten throughout much of Europe and Oceania.
An accompanying music video for "Wrecking Ball" was released on September 9, 2013. It featured close-up scenes of Cyrus tearfully singing, reminiscent of the clip for " Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor, interspersed with footage of a nude Cyrus swinging on a wrecking ball. Critics were divided in their opinions of the music video, feeling that it was more provocative than the clip for her previous single " We Can't Stop". "Wrecking Ball" previously held the Vevo record for the most views in the first 24 hours after its release with 19.3 million views. At the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards, Cyrus took home the award for Best Video and the award for Video of the Year at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards. Adding to the video's success, Cyrus won the award for World's Best Video at the 2014 World Music Awards in Monte Carlo. Cyrus has performed "Wrecking Ball" during several live performances, including the iHeartRadio Music Festival and an episode of Saturday Night Live.
"Wrecking Ball" is a 1989 song by Neil Young, included in the album Freedom. The song was covered by American singer Emmylou Harris.
Usage examples of "wrecking ball".
I never even thought about it, except it was a pain in the ass to use a detour or have to cross the street because the sidewalk was ripped up or the construction company was using a wrecking ball.
A crane with a wrecking ball was demolishing the synagogue on Rue Breteuil.
A minivan parked in the driveway had been crushed, as if by a dropped wrecking ball.
Agamemnon lunged with another of his forelimbs, this one capped with a spherical wrecking ball that fired disruptive, paralyzing energy.
In reality, he'd been quietly killing off the last few weeks of lease on his worn-out carcass, before the arrival of the final wrecking ball.
Randy could probably estimate the amount of kinetic energy the house picked up during this fall, and convert it to an equivalent in pounds of dynamite or swings of a wrecking ball, but it would be a nerdy exercise, since he can see the effects for himself.
One day the city's blue-collar henchmen would come to the building with a wrecking ball.
They better hurry up with the wrecking ball, or else they wouldn’.
He was in a district of old warehouses, waiting like old pensioners for the wrecking ball to come calling, reduce them again to the dust from whence they came.