ball n.1
1. (US) a bullet [? its circularity].
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Trial of Charles Drew 11: Lawrence Rainbird, Surg. I examin’d the Wounds of the Deceased [...] and I took three Balls out of his Body. | |
| Tommy Thumb’s Songbook II 43: There was a little Man, / And he had a little Gun, / And the Ball was made of Lead. | |
 | Gray’s-Inn Journal No. 24 204: He, who has not killed his man, or lodged a ball in the abdomen, is considered as an equivocal character. | |
| Hants Chron. 11 Apr. 3/1: The midshipman [...] received a ball in the breast, which has since been extracted. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Adventures of Jonathan Corncob 64: The whizzing of the ball brought me to my recollection. | |
| Adventures of John Wetherell (1954) 27 Feb. 130: I began to be troubled with a ball that had been lodged in my hip. | |
| in Meine Crockett Almanacks (1955) 131: I instantly put a ball through him near the heart. | |
| Nick of the Woods II i: I’ll send a ball through your skull that shall let out your crazy brains! | |
| Nature and Human Nature I 256: I have three balls in me now, which the doctors couldn’t extract. | |
| letter in Brobst Well Mary, Civil War Letters 87: There has never but one rebel ball hit me yet. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Knocking About in N.Z. 140: The balls began to rattle about the trees above us. | |
| Globe Live Stock Journal 5 Aug. in Why the West was Wild 463: Archie Franklin, the cow-boy who was shot accidentally by one of the balls. | |
| Star (Renoldscille, PA) 7 June 6/3: Put a ball through that critter. | |
| Brought to Bay 77: This ball would go plum through a buffalo. | |
| Cowboy Songs 151: They pierced poor Sam with rifle balls. | |
![[Can]](/static/img/flags/can.png "Canada") | ‘My Prisoner’ in Rhymes of a Red Cross Man 121: I’ll let yer ’ave a rifle ball instead. | |
| (con. WWI) Wings on My Feet 93: I’m gonna buy me Winchester rifle, / An’ box o’ balls, Lawd, box o’ balls. |
2. (UK Und.) a prison ration, 170g (6oz) of meat [? the resemblance of the lump of meat].
| Dict. of the Flash or Cant Lang. 161/1: Ball – prison allowance, six ounces of meat. | |
| Vulgar Tongue. | |
| , , | | Sl. Dict. |
| Derbyshire Courier 12 Dec. 7/1: Local Flash language [...] A ball, prison allowance of meat. | |
| Sl. Dict. (1890). | |
| Sydney Sl. Dict. (2 edn) 1: Ball - Prison allowance of meat (usually 6 oz.). | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 6: Ball, prison allowance. | |
| ‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 437: Ball, (2) A prison allowance. | |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
3. (US) a silver dollar; in. pl., money [? its circularity].
| Tramping with Tramps 348: I’ll give you five balls fer ’im. | |
| ‘The New Fable of the Private Agitator’ in Ade’s Fables 21: He never caught up with Colonel Bogey, but he had enough Class to trim our Hero and collect 6 Balls. | |
| Gay-cat 301: Ball—a dollar. | |
| ‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 437: Ball, A silver dollar. | |
| et al. A2Z 5: balls – dollars or money: He rollin’ in a Benz and you ask if he got balls?! |
4. a small package of a narcotic or other drug [the drug package is rolled into a ball].
| My Life in Prison 79: Guys what I never suspicioned o’ usin’ dope went around beggin’ friend f’r a ball. | |
| Jockeys, Crooks and Kings 42: As I got back the trainer was giving his [race] horse a ‘ball,’ that is, some dope applied internally. | |
| ‘Next Up?’ 🎵 4 and a half, got bags of ball [i.e crack cocaine] and dust, man slap it in 10s. |
5. (US) baseball [abbr.].
| S.F. Bulletin 14 Mar. 20: Its sister organization, the oaks, is playing a colorless and sloppy article of ball. | |
| Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever 43: [N]ot just big-time Negro ball, but big-time major league ball. | |
| Et Tu, Babe (1993) 136: He pitched, I believe, four or five no-hitters [...] when he played semi-pro ball down in the Galápagos Islands. |
6. (orig. US black) basketball [abbr.].
| Blueschild Baby 30: They knew George Cain, All-American basketball player [...] Passing the playground, I see kids running ball. It’s unchanged since I played. | |
| It Ain’t All for Nothin 66: Lonnie said [...] he was going to show me how to play ball. | |
| ‘Miles Davis in Memorium’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 86: Music and ’ball both do this. | |
| Corner (1998) 124: The rest of them stood there [...] politely silent only because they wanted to play ball. | |
| (con. 1970s) King Suckerman (1998) 115: He [...] put some ball clothes together with the herb into a gym bag. | |
| (con. 1986) Sweet Forever 61: He could keep to himself, have a slow glass of cold beer, watch a little ball. | |
| Night Gardener 59: Kids [...] who had begun to drink a little and get blazed had kinda dropped off from playing ball. |
7. see balls n. (1)
SE in slang uses
In compounds
1. (orig. US black) one’s wife or regular girlfriend; thus ball-and-chained, married.
| Cutie 62: So this is the way you have been deceiving me! [...] with a ball and chain waiting for you at home. | |
| Front Page Act I: sheriff: Oh, hello, dear. kruger: Sounds like the ball and chain. | |
| Yes Man’s Land 185: ‘Oh, please don’t start a row, Egbert!’ murmurs his ball-and-chain. | |
| ‘A Practical Joke’ in Short Stories (1937) 182: She’s his ball-and-chain, all right. | |
| Argus (Melbourne) 24 Feb. 7/1: I did perform a very Victoria Crosseyed act in inviting my Ball and Chain to come along. | |
| ‘When a Body Meets a Body’ in Popular Detective Sept. 🌐 Louie’s ball and chain called Willie at noon. ‘We’ve made up, Mr. Klump,’ she said happily. | |
| Caddie 208: He hasn’t got himself a ball and chain yet. | |
| World of Paul Slickey Act II: My sweet, gold ball-and-chain, / I’ll be hers, hers. | |
| Reinhart in Love (1963) 97: Go get your ball and chain and your deductions. | |
| Homesickness (1999) 275: Do you have any ruddy ball-and-chains here? | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Secret World of the Irish Male (1995) 45: Went to Margate with the ball and chain. | |
| Mad mag. July 28: The gay friend you used to cry to about your bad relationships [...] has to get home to the ‘old ball and chain’. |
2. (US Und.) a tramp’s younger male companion.
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
see separate entry.
(US Und.) a form of confidence trick, based on betting on the contents of a supposedly sealed container.
| Brooklyn Eve. Star 12 Apr. 2/3: [Two men were swindled] by having the ‘ball game’ played upon them. [They were] induced to participate in a bet on the contents of a ball. |
see separate entry.
(Irish) a rumour, an unsupported theory, a lie; thus ballhopper, a rumour-monger.
| Bloods 21: They listened and said nothing but when his words came to pass they forgot his Dublin ‘ball-hop’. | |
| (con. 1950s) Maura’s Boy 11: She was a gregarious, impulsive girl, with a northsider’s relish for ‘ballhopping’ (teasing). [Ibid.] 41: Go ’way, ye ballhopper. |
(US tramp) a parcel of food given to a tramp.
| Gay-cat 305: Ball lump—sandwiches, cake, etc, handed out to a tramp, wrapped in paper. | |
| et al. DAUL 22/1: Ball lump. (Hobo) A sandwich, or other cold food handout, wrapped in paper. |
see separate entry.
see separate entry.
In phrases
(US) the earth.
| Moran of the Lady Letty 47: There ain’t no manner of place on the ball of dirt where you’re likely to run up afoul of so many things – unexpected things. |
1. a glass of brandy [the effect of the liquor].
| Real Life in London II 91: A ball of fire, ? a dose of daffy, or a blow out of black strap, will set the blue devils at defiance, give a spur to harmony, and set the spirits a jogging. [? A ball of fire—A glass of brandy]. |
2. an individual known for their energy, resourcefulness or drive.
| ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 35: fire, ball of, n. Brilliant student, usually with the added idea of great energy. | |
| Your Broadway & Mine 5 Dec. [synd. col.] They call Miss Manley ‘the ball of fire’ [...] Blond and low down, she is fascinating without being too vulgar. | |
| Fact Detective Mysteries 21 n.p.: He was sometimes enviously referred to as a go-getter, a hot shot, a ball of fire [W&F]. | |
| Long Good-Bye 55: The cops were too slow at Torreon. Mex cops are no balls of fire. | |
| Across the Board 134: He owns a stable of horses and is a ball of fire in New Jersey and Maryland. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 15: ball of fire/muscle Energetic person, maybe overly so, from 1930s. |
3. an excellent thing, idea.
| Leave it to Psmith (1993) 517: Is it or is it not [...] a ball of fire? |
(Aus.) an energetic, lively person.
| Gippsland Times (Vic.) 1 Oct. 5/3: I’m a bouncin’ ball er muscle, / Take me tip, I’m full uv ‘ustle, / An’ I’m angshus fer a tussle / With enny likely job. | |
| Foveaux 160: Rolfe was again ‘a ball of muscle’, as he termed it, working on the Slum Abolition Committee. | |
| Come in Spinner (1960) 269: You look a ball of muscle tonight. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 15: ball of fire/muscle Energetic person, maybe overly so, from 1930s. |
a shoemaker.
| Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 191: Waxy ? a cobbler or shoemaker; sometimes he is dubbed ‘lad of wax;’ at others, ‘ball o’ wax’. | |
| Modern Flash Dict. 4: Ball o’wax, a snob or shoe-maker. | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 18 Nov. 2/4: The Deaf ’un was weak, and evidently out-generalled; his blows were all at random, out of distance, and easily evaded by Ball-o'-wax [i.e. a prize-fighting shoemaker]. | |
| Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open. | |
| Sl. and Its Analogues. |
(US) the female genitals.
| in Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 97: Well, I took her ’round the waist an’ I gently laid her down [...] While the blackbird and the thrush were a banging in the brush, / I wound up her little ball of yarn, yarn, yarn. | |
| in Erotic Muse (1992) 91: She gave me her consent, to the living room we went, / And I asked her where she kept her ball of yarn. / She says, ‘Underneath my gown,’ and I gently lyed [sic] her down, / And wound up her little ball of yarn. |
see separate entry.
(orig. US) to make a mistake at a crucial moment.
| Naked and Dead 315: How many other times have you dropped the ball on patrol? | |
| (con. early 1950s) Valhalla 459: I’ve known for quite some time that he’s been, shall we say, dropping the ball? | |
| Serial 110: When Harold dropped the ball on the music, Martha somehow rounded up a Moog synthesiser and two electric guitars. | |
| Don’t Look Back 308: Trautman, his head no doubt spinning from the agonizing decisions demanded by integration against a Jim Crow backdrop, dropped the ball this time. | |
| Westsiders 96: We got to make sure we don’t drop the ball. |
(Aus.) to reprimand, to ‘shake up’.
| Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 9: To give a man ‘a ball’ is to shake him up. A talking to or livening up. |
to be alert and aware.
| Outlaws (ms.) 27: They drink or they fuck around or whatever, they don’t pay attention to what they’re doing and that, don’t have their eye on the ball. | |
| et al. Lost Delta Found editors’ intro. 22: Only Work kept his eye on the ball and kept it moving forward. | |
| No Going Back 215: Leaders keep their eye on the ball and keep their priorities straight. |
to sustain a lifestyle, to maintain a social pose.
| ‘Little Peru’ in Hilaria 51: What’s honour and glory to flush ready rhino / Without which no captain can keep up the ball. |
(Irish) an opportunity to pick up free drink.
| Dublin Opinion May n.p.: A local man made good was whooping it up with a few friends; inevitably a loose ball gatherer quietly took up his station [BS]. |
to take on a problem and tackle it on one’s own initiative, rather than passing the buck.
| Encyc. Science Supplement 111: Federal approval may still be forthcoming at a later date, and ‘private industry might choose to run with the ball’. | |
| Observer Mag. 24 Feb. 29: Sometimes in politics you have to ‘kick across the field, instead of running straight with the ball’. | |
| Lockdown 186: ‘How about you, Deepak? You want to run with the ball?’. |
(US) skill, talent, great ability.
| Collier’s 13 Apr. 19/1: He’s got nothing on the ball—nothing at all [DA]. | |
| Coshocton (OH) Trib. 13 Feb. 9/1: Every good athlete ‘has something on the ball’, but the layman is never certain just what he has on which ball. | |
| Honest Rainmaker (1991) 62: Now the figurator thinks he really must have something on the ball. | |
| Cruisers: A Star is Born 123: ‘There are so many kids who have something on the ball [...] a lot of them will do well’. |