What does "ball" mean?
A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
Ball
/bɔl/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
- Grammar: ball is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: globe, orb, sphere, testicle.
- Useful contrasts: box, candlepins, cube.
- Usage evidence: The ball rolled into the stream.
How to use "ball"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "ball" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "ball" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "ball" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "ball" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "ball" is acting as intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "globe" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "ball", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. countable, uncountable
"a ball of spittle; a fecal ball"
- 2 A formal dance.
"We still have pictures from the ball we had in August 2008."
- 3 a pitch that is not in the strike zone wordnet
- 4 A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.; A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape. countable, uncountable
"a ball of wool; a ball of twine"
- 5 A very enjoyable time. informal
"I had a ball at that concert."
Show 32 more definitions
- 6 a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs wordnet
- 7 Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.; In 3-dimensional Euclidean space, the volume bounded by a sphere. countable, uncountable
- 8 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.
- 9 round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games wordnet
- 10 Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.; The set of points in a metric space of any number of dimensions lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point. countable, uncountable
- 11 a spherical object used as a plaything wordnet
- 12 Homologue or analogue of a disk in the Euclidean plane.; The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point. countable, uncountable
- 13 a solid projectile that is shot by a musket wordnet
- 14 A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.; A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin. countable, uncountable
- 15 one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens wordnet
- 16 A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, rifle, gun, etc.; Such bullets collectively. obsolete, uncountable
"[…] the Good Old Cause, which, as they seemed to represent it, smelt of Gunpowder and ball […]"
- 17 a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass wordnet
- 18 A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body. countable, uncountable
"the ball of the thumb"
- 19 a lavish dance requiring formal attire wordnet
- 20 A roundish, protuberant portion of some part of the body.; The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes. countable, uncountable
- 21 a compact mass wordnet
- 22 The globe; the earthly sphere. countable, uncountable
"c. 1712', Joseph Addison, Ode to the Creator of the World What, though in solemn Silence, all / Move round the dark terrestrial Ball!"
- 23 an object with a spherical shape wordnet
- 24 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game countable
"Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall."
- 25 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; Any sport or game involving a ball; its play, literally or figuratively. uncountable
"The children were playing ball on the beach."
- 26 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone. countable
- 27 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; An opportunity to launch the pinball into play. countable
"If you get to a million points, you get another ball."
- 28 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over. countable
- 29 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; a kick (or hit in e.g. field hockey) of the ball towards where one or more teammates is expected to be. (Distinguished from a pass by a longer distance travelled or less specific target point.) countable
"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."
- 30 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; An apparatus. countable
- 31 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 or ovoid but whose size, weight, bounciness, colour, etc. differ according to the game; An apparatus.; An apparatus program with a ball. countable, metonymically, uncountable
- 32 A testicle. countable, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar
"Hitler has only got one ball, / Göring has two but very small, / Himmler is rather sim'lar, / But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all."
- 33 A testicle.; Nonsense. countable, in-plural, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar
"That’s a load of balls, and you know it!"
- 34 A testicle.; Courage. countable, in-plural, mildly, plural-normally, slang, uncountable, vulgar
"I doubt he’s got the balls to tell you off."
- 35 A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller. countable, historical, uncountable
- 36 A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus. countable, historical, uncountable
"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."
- 37 One thousand US dollars. countable, singular, singular-only, slang, uncountable
"I'ma let these niggas have it, go on stage and throw a forty ball"
Verb
- 1 To form or wind into a ball. transitive
"to ball cotton"
- 2 form into a ball by winding or rolling wordnet
- 3 To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
- 4 to live very well wordnet
- 5 To have sexual intercourse (with). US, intransitive, transitive, vulgar
"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.’”"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 To gather balls which cling to the feet or skis, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls. ambitransitive
"the horse balls"
- 7 To be hip or cool. participle, present, regional, slang
- 8 To reject from a fraternity or sorority. (Ellipsis of 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)."
- 9 To play basketball. slang
"fuck it, we ball"
- 10 To spend money extravagantly.
- 11 To punish by affixing a ball and chain. transitive
"any man refusing to do police duty will be punished by the sergts by balling him the rest of the day."
- 12 Of bees: to kill (a wasp) by surrounding it in large numbers so as to raise its body heat. transitive
- 13 To operate (a vehicle) at high speed (whether balls-out, balls to the wall, or ballin' the jack, each of which comes ultimately from ball via a different route). intransitive
"Near-synonym: haul ass"
Intj
- 1 An exclamation to inform players on an adjacent playing area that a loose ball from another game has entered their playing area; typically implies that play should be paused until the ball has been retrieved.
- 2 An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player.
"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."
Proper Noun
- 1 An English surname.
- 2 A town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States.
- 3 A hamlet in Egloshayle parish, on the eastern outskirts of Wadebridge, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SX0073).
Antonyms
Example
"The ball rolled into the stream."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "ball"?
Common synonyms include: globe, orb, sphere, testicle, action, agate.
How do you use "ball" in a sentence?
The ball rolled into the stream.
How do you pronounce "ball"?
Pronounced /bɔl/.
Etymology
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 *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, bale.
Etymology 2
From Middle French bal, from Middle French baler (“to dance”), from Old French baller, from Late Latin ballō (“to dance”). Compare baile.
Etymology 3
Multiple theories and origins. * From a short form of the Middle English given name Baldwin. * A toponymic surname for a person that lives near a knoll or rounded hill (i.e. somewhere shaped like a ball). * From the Old Norse given name Balle. * A habitational surname for a person from Ball, Cornwall, from Cornish Pelen.