ball
I.ball1 S1 W2 /bɔːl $ bɒːl/ BrE AmE noun
[Sense 1-7, 10-17: Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old Norse; Origin: böllr]
[Sense 8-9: Date: 1600-1700; Language: French; Origin: bal, from Old French baller 'to dance', from Late Latin ballare, from Greek ballizein]
1. ROUND OBJECT [countable] a round object that is thrown, kicked, or hit in a game or sport
throw/hit/kick/catch etc a ball
Weiskopf hit the ball 330 yards and a cheer went up.
a tennis/golf/cricket etc ball
2. ROUND SHAPE [countable] something formed or rolled into a round shape:
a ball of string
Shape the dough into balls.
3. GAME/SPORT [uncountable] any game or sport played with a ball, especially baseball or ↑basketball:
D'you want to go out and play ball?
Dad likes college ball.
4. FOOT/HAND the ball of the foot/hand the rounded part of the foot at the base of the toes, or the rounded part of the hand at the base of the thumb
5. on the ball informal able to think or act quickly and intelligently:
an assistant who’s really on the ball
6. set/start/keep the ball rolling to start something happening:
To start the ball rolling, the government was asked to contribute £1 million.
7. the ball is in sb’s court it is their turn to take action or to reply:
I’ve emailed him – now the ball’s in his court.
8. FORMAL OCCASION [countable] a large formal occasion at which people dance
9. have a ball informal to have a very good time
10. balls [plural] informal not polite
a) ↑testicles
b) courage:
I didn’t have the balls to ask.
c) British English spoken something that is stupid or wrong SYN nonsense:
That’s a load of balls! ⇨ ↑balls1
11. a fast/good/long etc ball a ball that is thrown, hit, or kicked fast etc in a game or sport:
He hit a long ball to right field.
12. CRICKET no ball a ball that is thrown too high, low etc towards someone trying to hit it, in the game of ↑cricket or ↑rounders
13. BASEBALL no ball [countable] a ball that the hitter does not try to hit, because it is not within the correct area
14. the whole ball of wax American English informal the whole thing SYN everything
15. a ball of fire informal someone who has a lot of energy and enthusiasm
16. keep several/too many etc balls in the air to struggle to deal with more than one problem or job at the same time:
The company just won’t be able to keep that many balls in the air.
17. drop the ball (also take your eye off the ball) to make a mistake when dealing with something because you stop thinking carefully or paying attention
18. ball-buster/ball-breaker informal
a) a problem that is very difficult to deal with
b) an offensive word for a woman who uses her authority over men
⇨ ↑cannonball, ↑crystal ball, ↑wrecking ball, ⇨ play ball at ↑play1(7)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
 verbs
▪ throw a ball Suzy threw the ball to Matthew.
▪ catch a ball He’s useless at sport; he can’t even catch a ball.
▪ hit a ball He swung the bat back and hit the ball hard.
▪ kick a ball Greg kicked the ball upfield to Will.
▪ bounce a ball He was in the yard bouncing a ball against the wall.
▪ get the ball Then the Cowboys got the ball again.
▪ miss a ball (=not catch or hit it) I was trying hard but I kept missing the ball.
▪ a ball rolls The ball just rolled past the hole.
▪ a ball flies/sails The ball flew over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net.
▪ a ball bounces In tennis, the ball must only bounce once.
▪ a ball rebounds (=hits something and moves back and away from it again) The ball hit the goalpost and rebounded.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + ball
▪ a tennis/cricket/golf/rugby etc ball She was practising hitting golf balls.
▪ a ping-pong/billiard/snooker etc ball He was bouncing around like a ping-pong ball.
▪ a beach ball (=a large light ball used on the beach) Dad, will you blow up the beach ball?
ball + NOUN
▪ a ball game He’s always watching ball games on TV.
▪ ball skills Practising ball skills helps a child’s coordination.
II.ball2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1. (also ball up) to make something form a small round shape:
Ray balled up his fists.
2. American English informal not polite to have sex with a woman
b\\ballhu
ball
A ball is usually round and fun to bounce, throw, kick, or catch.| ◎ | [bɔ:l] | | ※ | danh từ | | | ■ | buổi khiêu vũ | | | ☆ | to give a ball | | | mở một buổi khiêu vũ | | | ☆ | to open the ball | | | khai mạc buổi khiêu vũ; (nghĩa bóng) bắt đầu công việc | | | ■ | quả cầu, hình cầu | | | ■ | quả bóng, quả banh | | | ■ | đạn | | | ■ | cuộn, búi (len, chỉ...) | | | ■ | viên (thuốc thú y...) | | | ■ | (kỹ thuật) chuyện nhăng nhít, chuyện nhảm nhí; chuyện vô lý | | | ■ | (thông tục) (số nhiều) tinh hoàn | | | 〆 | ball and chain | | | ✓ | (từ Mỹ,nghĩa Mỹ) hình phạt xích hòn sắt vào chân (tù khổ sai) | | | 〆 | ball to fortune | | | ✓ | số phận, vận số, những trò trớ trêu của thần số mệnh | | | ✓ | người bảy nổi ba chìm, người, long đong trong cuộc đời | | | 〆 | the ball of the eye | | | ✓ | cầu mắt, nhãn cầu | | | 〆 | the ball of the knee | | | ✓ | xương bánh chè | | | 〆 | a ball of fire | | | ✓ | người giàu ý chí và nghị lực | | | 〆 | the ball is with you | | | ✓ | đến lượt anh, đến phiên anh | | | 〆 | to carry the ball | | | ✓ | (từ Mỹ,nghĩa Mỹ), (từ lóng) hoạt động tích cực | | | 〆 | to catch (take) the ball before the bound | | | ✓ | không đợi lúc thuận lợi; nhanh nhẩu đoảng | | | 〆 | get on the ball | | | ✓ | (từ Mỹ,nghĩa Mỹ), (từ lóng) nhanh lên, mau lên | | | 〆 | to have the ball at one's feet | | | ✓ | gặp cơ hội tốt, gặp thời cơ | | | 〆 | to keep the ball rolling | | | ✓ | giữ cho câu chuyện (hoặc công việc) không bị gián đoạn | | | 〆 | to keep up the ball | | | ✓ | giữ cho câu chuyện không gián đoạn | | | 〆 | to make a ball of something | | | ✓ | phá rối, làm hỏng việc gì | | | 〆 | on the ball | | | ✓ | (từ Mỹ,nghĩa Mỹ), (thông tục) nhanh nhẹn, tinh nhanh | | | 〆 | to strike the ball under the line | | | ✓ | thất bại, hỏng ăn, không đạt mục đích | | ※ | động từ | | | ■ | cuộn lại (len, chỉ...) | | | ■ | đóng thành cục tròn; đóng thành khối cầu | | | ☆ | that horse is not lame, but balled | | | con ngựa này không què nhưng bị đất sét (tuyết...) đóng cục ở chân không chạy được | | | 〆 | to ball up | | | ✓ | bối rối, lúng túng |
|
|
