ball

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a pitch that is not in the strike zone

   The pitcher threw nine straight balls before being yanked from the game.

2. 2
   noun

   round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games

   The ball travelled 90 mph on their serve.

3. 3
   noun

   a spherical object used as a plaything

   The toddler played with their rubber ball in the bathtub.

4. 4
   noun

   a solid projectile that is shot by a musket

   they had to carry a ramrod as well as powder and ball

5. 5
   noun

   one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens

   I was kicked in the balls and the culprit got away.

6. 6
   noun

   a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass

   the ball at the base of the thumb

7. 7
   noun

   a compact mass

   A ball of mud caught them on the shoulder.

8. 8
   noun

   the people assembled at a lavish formal dance

   the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Germanic *balluz Old English *beall Middle English bal English ball 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 *bʰol-n- (“ball, 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,…