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Ball
A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch or juggling. Balls made from hard-wearing materials are used in engineering applications to provide very low friction bearings, known as ball bearings. Black-powder weapons use stone and metal balls as projectiles.
Although many types of balls are today made from rubber, this form was unknown outside the Americas until after the voyages of Columbus. The Spanish were the first Europeans to see the bouncing rubber balls (albeit solid and not inflated) which were employed most notably in the Mesoamerican ballgame. Balls used in various sports in other parts of the world prior to Columbus were made from other materials such as animal bladders or skins, stuffed with various materials.
As balls are one of the most familiar spherical objects to humans, the word “ball” may be used to refer to or describe spherical or near-spherical objects.
“Ball” is used metaphorically sometimes to denote something spherical or spheroid, e.g., armadillos and human beings curl up into a ball, we make a ball with our fist.
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Ball (noun)
A solid or hollow sphere, or part thereof.
“a ball of spittle;”
“a fecal ball”
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Ball (noun)
A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
“a ball of wool;”
“a ball of twine”
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Ball (noun)
A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, etc.
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Ball (noun)
A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
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Ball (noun)
Such bullets collectively.
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Ball (noun)
A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body.
“the ball of the thumb;”
“the ball of the foot”
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Ball (noun)
The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
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Ball (noun)
The globe; the earthly sphere.
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Ball (noun)
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.
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Ball (noun)
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.
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Ball (noun)
A round or ellipsoidal object.
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Ball (noun)
An object, generally spherical, used for playing games.
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Ball (noun)
Any simple game involving a ball.
“The children were playing ball on the beach.”
“The children were playing ball in the garden.”
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Ball (noun)
A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
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Ball (noun)
An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
“If you get to a million points, you get another ball.”
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Ball (noun)
A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
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Ball (noun)
A testicle.
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Ball (noun)
A pass; a kick of the football towards a teammate.
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Ball (noun)
Nonsense.
“That’s a load of balls, and you know it!”
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Ball (noun)
A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
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Ball (noun)
A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
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Ball (noun)
A formal dance.
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Ball (noun)
A very enjoyable time.
“I had a ball at that concert.”
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Ball (verb)
To form or wind into a ball.
“to ball cotton”
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Ball (verb)
To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
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Ball (verb)
To have sexual intercourse with.
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Ball (verb)
To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
“The horse balls; the snow balls.”
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Ball (verb)
To be hip or cool.
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Ball (verb)
To play basketball.
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Ball (interjection)
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.
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Gala (adjective)
Celebratory; festive.
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Gala (noun)
Pomp, show, or festivity.
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Gala (noun)
A showy and festive party.
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Gala (noun)
A member of an androgynous class of priests of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.
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Ball (noun)
a solid or hollow spherical or egg-shaped object that is kicked, thrown, or hit in a game
“a cricket ball”
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Ball (noun)
a spherical object or mass of material
“he crushed the card into a ball”
“a ball of wool”
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Ball (noun)
a solid non-explosive missile for a firearm.
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Ball (noun)
a game played with a ball
“he comes across a group of kids playing ball”
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Ball (noun)
baseball
“young men would graduate from college and enter pro ball”
“kids have been playing ball in that lot for almost a hundred years”
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Ball (noun)
(in cricket) a delivery of the ball by the bowler to the batsman
“his half century came off only forty balls”
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Ball (noun)
(in soccer) a pass of the ball in a specified direction or manner
“Whelan sent a long ball to Goddard”
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Ball (noun)
(in baseball) a pitch delivered outside the strike zone which the batter does not attempt to hit
“he ignored it completely, and the umpire called it a ball”
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Ball (noun)
the rounded protuberant part of the foot at the base of the big toe.
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Ball (noun)
the rounded protuberant part of the hand at the base of the thumb.
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Ball (noun)
a formal social gathering for dancing
“Anne danced with the captain at a fancy-dress ball”
“a ball gown”
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Ball (verb)
squeeze or form (something) into a rounded shape
“Robert balled up his napkin and threw it on to his plate”
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Ball (verb)
clench (one’s fist) tightly
“she balled her fist so that the nails dug into her palms”
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Ball (verb)
form a round shape
“the fishing nets eventually ball up and sink”
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Ball (verb)
wrap the root ball of (a tree or shrub) to protect it during transportation.
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Ball (verb)
have sexual intercourse with.
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Ball (verb)
(of a flower) fail to open properly, decaying in the half-open bud.