Ball Definition
ball
See also Ball, bal, bál, bål, and baḻ
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English
Wikipedia has an article on: Ball Wikimedia Commons has related media at: Category:BallsPronunciation
- (UK) IPA: /bɔːl/
- (US) IPA: /bɔl/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA: /bɑl/
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːl
- Homophone: bawl
Etymology 1
From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“a ball”) (whence the Icelandic böllur (“scrotum; penis; a ball”)), both from Proto-Germanic *balluz, *ballô (“ball”), from Proto-Indo-European *bholn- (“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.
Noun
A basketballball (plural balls)
- A solid or hollow sphere.
- An object, generally spherical, used for playing games.
- 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, BBC Sport Wales:
- Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.
- 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, BBC Sport Wales:
- A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
- ball of wool
- Any simple game involving a ball.
- The children were playing ball on the beach.
- The children were playing ball in the garden.
- (baseball) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
- (pinball) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
- If you get to a million points, you get another ball.
- (ballistics) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, etc.
- (ballistics) A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
- (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.
- (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.
- (mildly vulgar, slang, usually in plural) A testicle.
- (mildly vulgar, slang, in the plural) Nonsense.
- That’s a load of balls, and you know it! — Synonyms — See Wikisaurus:nonsense
- (slang, in the plural) Courage.
- I doubt he’s got the balls to tell him off.
- (cricket) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
- (soccer) A pass; a kick of the football towards a teammate.
- 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, BBC:
- 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.
- 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, BBC:
- (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
Synonyms
Derived terms
solid or hollow sphere
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Translations
solid or hollow sphere
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Verb
ball (third-person singular simple present balls, present participle balling, simple past and past participle balled)
- (transitive, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.
Synonyms
Translations
vulgar slang: have sexual intercourse withInterjection
ball
- (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.
- 2007: 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. — AFL Sydney Swans Rules Zone [1]
Etymology 2
From French < Late Latin ballare.
Noun
ball (plural balls)
Synonyms
- (very enjoyable time): blast, whale of a time
Derived terms
- ball-dress
- ballgown
- ballroom
- have a ball
- hunt ball
- masked ball
- open the ball
Related terms
Translations
formal dance
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Catalan
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -aʎ
Noun
ball m. (plural balls)
Synonyms
Related terms
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
French balle (“ball”).
Noun
ball
Declension
declension of ball| nominative | ball |
|---|---|
| genitive | ballnıñ |
| dative | ballğa |
| accusative | ballnı |
| locative | ballda |
| ablative | balldan |
References
- Useinov & Mireev Dictionary, Simferopol, Dolya, 2002 [2]
Icelandic
Noun
ball n. (ball-s, böll)
Irish
Etymology
From Old Irish ball < Proto-Celtic *ballo- < Proto-Indo-European *bhel-, *swell; compare English ball, Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).
Pronunciation
- (Munster) IPA: [bˠaul̪ˠ]
- (Connacht) IPA: [bˠɑːl̪ˠ] (Galway); IPA: [bˠal̪ˠ] (Mayo)
- (Ulster) IPA: [bˠal̪ˠ]
Noun
ball m.
Declension
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Bare forms:
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Forms with the definite article:
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Norwegian
Etymology
From Old Norse bǫllr.
Noun
ball m.
- ball (solid or hollow sphere)
Inflection
Inflection of ball| indefinite singular | definite singular | indefinite plural | definite plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bokmål m | ball | ballen | baller | ballene |
| Nynorsk m | ball | ballen | ballar | ballane |
References
- “ball” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.
Scottish Gaelic
Noun
ball m. (genitive and plural buill)
Derived terms
Swedish
Adjective
ball ˈbal
- (slang) cool, hip, fun, entertaining
- Det är ballt att åka skateboard.
- It’s cool to ride a skateboard.
Declension
Declension of ball| Inflections of ball | Absolute | Comparative | Superlative | ||
| Attributive | Predicative | ||||
| Indefinite singular | Common | ball | ballare | ballast | |
| Neuter | ballt | ||||
| Definite singular | Masc. | balle | ballaste | ||
| All | balla | ballaste | |||
| Plural | balla | ballaste | |||
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