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.
Ball , n. [F. bal, fr. OF. baler to dance, fr. LL. ballare.
Of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. ba`llein to toss or throw, or pa`llein, pa`llesqai,
to leap, bound, balli`zein to dance, jump about; or cf. 1st Ball, n.]
A social assembly for the purpose of dancing.
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 , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Balled (b&add;ld); 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 (b&add;l), n. [OE.
bal, balle; akin to
OHG. balla, palla, G. ball, Icel. böllr, 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superseded by the roller.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.
Hear it pronounced