Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US black) having fun [ball v.² ].

1942		Amer. Mercury July 94: balling: having fun.
1946		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 5 Jan. 21: Talk about balling: this was it! [...] enough grub to straighten out an infantry division, plus cases of scotch, rye bourbon and gin.
1957		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 18 May 13: When the Chick wants to go, Jim, you say know [...] If she insists on balling, you start some squalling.
1960		Kerouac letter Sept. in Charters II (1999) 269: I tell you there’s just too much balling going on in the city itself altho I love it of course.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 57: You must be balling at Small’s Paradise, or maybe at the Cotton Club?
2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 ballin’ Definition: hanging out somewhere. Example: Hey B, We goin’ ballin’ tonight?
2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 245: Ballin [...] Goin to house parties and band shows.
2011		G. Hayward Corruption Officer [ebk] cap. 16: I no longer have just one pair of black pants to go partying in. I now have two pairs, one of them leather. I bought my first pair of gators and allat. Yeah baby, I am ball’n!

2. (orig. US black) having sexual intercourse, also attrib. [ball v.³ ].

a.1956		‘J. Clark’ Fantastic Lodge 128: [Simes:DLSS].
1961		T.I. Rubin In the Life 155: Balling: necking, petting or having sexual intercourse.
1965		L. Bruce How to Talk Dirty 75: A nutty-looking chick [...] who’s a real balling freak.
1967		I. Rosenthal Sheeper 41: Negroes that never stopped balling.
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 221: I mean, like I’ve been making some heavy trips, and, well, balling has gotten to be, you know, like kind of . . . ‘irrelevant’.
1986		S. King It (1987) 868: So that was Derry [...] all boom and balling.

3. (US black) enriching oneself by selling drugs (usu. crack cocaine) [fig. use].

1998

Source Nov. 72: Poignant messages about death, the penal system and the oft-times unglamorous side of ballin’.

4. (US black) excelling in the playing of basketball [ball v.⁴ ].

1994

G. Smitherman Black Talk.

5. (US drugs) carrying a package of contraband cocaine by placing it in the vagina [? f. sense 3 or the ball n.¹ (4) that is hidden].

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 2: Balling — Vaginally implanted cocaine.

6. showing off, flaunting one’s possessions [fig. use].

2002

Teen Lingo: The Source for Youth Ministry 🌐 ballin v. To flaunt money. To be noticeably rich. ‘Yo . . . check out his Mercedes . . . he is ballin!’.