Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Ball?

\Ball\ (b[add]l), n. [OE. bal, balle; akin to OHG. balla, palla, G. ball, Icel. b["o]llr, ball; cf. F. balle. Cf. 1st {Bale}, n., {Pallmall}.] 1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow. 2. A spherical body of any substance or size used to play with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc. 3. A general name for games in which a ball is thrown, kicked, or knocked. See {Baseball}, and {Football}. 4. Any solid spherical, cylindrical, or conical projectile of lead or iron, to be discharged from a firearm; as, a cannon ball; a rifle ball; -- often used collectively; as, powder and ball. Spherical balls for the smaller firearms are commonly called {bullets}. 5. (Pyrotechnics & Mil.) A flaming, roundish body shot into the air; a case filled with combustibles intended to burst and give light or set fire, or to produce smoke or stench; as, a fire ball; a stink ball. 6. (Print.) A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; -- formerly used by printers for inking the form, but now superseded by the roller. 7. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot. 8. (Far.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus. --White. 9. The globe or earth. --Pope. Move round the dark terrestrial ball. --Addison. {Ball and socket joint}, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits. {Ball bearings}, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls. {Ball cartridge}, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished from a blank cartridge, containing only powder. {Ball cock}, a faucet or valve which is opened or closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever. {Ball gudgeon}, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket. --Knight. {Ball lever}, the lever used in a ball cock. {Ball of the eye}, the eye itself, as distinguished from its lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye. {Ball valve} (Mach.), a contrivance by which a ball, placed in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a valve. {Ball vein} (Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles. {Three balls}, or {Three golden balls}, a pawnbroker's sign or shop. Syn: See {Globe}.
\Ball\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Balled} (?); p. pr. & vb. n. {Balling}.] To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls; as, the horse balls; the snow balls.
\Ball\, v. t. 1. (Metal.) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling. 2. To form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton.
\Ball\, n. [F. bal, fr. OF. baler to dance, fr. LL. ballare. Of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. ? to toss or throw, or ?, ?, to leap, bound, ? to dance, jump about; or cf. 1st {Ball}, n.] A social assembly for the purpose of dancing.
\Ball\, n. (Baseball) A pitched ball, not struck at by the batsman, which fails to pass over the home base at a height not greater than the batsman's shoulder nor less than his knee.