ball

Etymology 1

From Middle English bal, ball, balle, from an unattested Old English *beall, *bealla (“round object, ball”) or Old Norse bǫllr (“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

1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
   a ball of spittle; a fecal ball
   1. A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
      a ball of wool; a ball of twine
2. (mathematics) Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.
   1. (mathematics) In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the volume bounded by a sphere.
   2. (mathematics) The set of points in a metric space of any number of dimensions lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point.
   3. (mathematics) The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point.
3. (ballistics, firearms) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.
   1. A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
   2. (uncountable, obsolete) Such bullets collectively.
      […] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […] 1659, Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, England’s Confusion, London, page 7
      […] some headstrong Maroons were using a soldier of Captain Craskell’s ill, and compelling him to write to his commander, that it was too late to do any thing good, and that they wanted nothing, having got plenty of powder and ball […] 1803, Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, Letter 5, p. 148
4. A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body.
   the ball of the thumb
   1. (anatomy) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
5. The globe; the earthly sphere.
   c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World What, though in solemn Silence, all / Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!
   Thus, if eternal Justice rules the ball, / Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall; 1717, Alexander Pope, Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady
6. (sports, countable) 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 but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game
   1. (uncountable) Any sport or game involving a ball; its play, literally or figuratively.
      The children were playing ball on the beach. George played his college ball at Stanford.
   2. (baseball, countable) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
   3. (pinball, countable) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
      If you get to a million points, you get another ball.
   4. (cricket, countable) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
   5. (soccer, countable) A pass; a kick of the football towards a teammate.
      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. December 29, 2010, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1-0 Bolton”, in BBC
7. (mildly vulgar, slang, usually in the plural) A testicle.
   1. (in the plural) Nonsense.
      That’s a load of balls, and you know it!
   2. (in the plural) Courage.
      I doubt he’s got the balls to tell you off.
8. (printing, historical) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
9. (farriery, historical) A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
   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. 1842, James White, A compendium of the veterinary art
10. (slang, countable, uncountable, singular only) One thousand US dollars.
    I'ma let these niggas have it, go on stage and throw a forty ball 22-07-2022, “Convict Life (Wanna Be Alone)”, YoungBoy Never Broke Again (lyrics)
    Forty ball all in these leather jeans Diamonds studs, I make a bum nigga think twice 16-09-2022, “Hands on the Floor” (track 4, 0:40 from the start), in Su'Lan (lyrics), Forever Da Gang
    Forty ball on my wrist, nigga, I cashed out on it (Damn) Forty bands on my neck, nigga, I maxed out on it (Damn) 23-11-2022, “10PM in ATL” (track 2), in GoldenBoy Countup (lyrics), Chill
    Dropped a twenty ball in Gallery Department 25-11-2022, “Gallery” (track 6), in OhGeesy (lyrics), GEEZYWORLD 2

verb

1. (transitive) To form or wind into a ball.
   to ball cotton
2. (metalworking) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
3. (transitive, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse with.
   Max says it works both ways. “I mean if she comes in and tells me she wants to ball Don, maybe, I say ‘O.K., baby, it's your trip.’” 1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem
4. (transitive, intransitive) To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
   the horse balls
   the snow balls
5. (slang, usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
6. (university slang) To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Short for blackball.)
   This highlights the issue of toxic masculinity in fraternities: a pledge only becomes a man, or a brother, by enduring as much abuse as he can and by proving his competence with girls. If he cannot, he is not only "balled" but seen as a "faggot" (this is a term directly from the work). 2018-07-12, “'I Thought Frats Were Like Their Movies, and They Totally Are': A Review of 'Alpha Class'”, in College Media Network
   All of these things are done by pledges in hopes of not getting 'balled' or kicked out. 2019-11-25, Annie Martin, “UCF frat suspended after report of pledges being forced to smoke marijuana, drink 'entire bottles' of alcohol”, in Orlando Sentinel
7. (nonstandard, slang) To play basketball.
8. (transitive) To punish by affixing a ball and chain.
   any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day. 1865, Camp Sumpter, Andersonville National Historic Site, Rules and Regulations of the Prison

intj

1. (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.
   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. 2007, “Laws Of The Afl 2007”, in AFL Sydney Swans Rules Zone, archived from the original on 2008-03-22

Etymology 2

From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler (“to dance”), from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”).

noun

1. A formal dance.
2. (informal) A very enjoyable time.
   I had a ball at that concert.
3. A competitive event among young African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ people in which prizes are awarded for drag and similar performances. See ball culture.