Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) a shot of liquor; esp. in phr. a beer and a ball, a beer and a shot of whisky; ball joint, a bar.

1847		Bell’s Life in Sydney 2 Jan. 1/5: The seaman, Ball, having more balls on board than agreed with his mental, moral, or physical capacity, suffered himself to be bamboozled.
1849		J.P. Townsend Rambles in New South Wales 209: The summit of his bliss is a ‘brandy ball.’.
1850		Bell’s Life in Sydney 18 May 2/6: We was both, in n manner of speaking, a little dry, so we steps into a licensed wittlers, in the vicinity, and indulges in a ball or two.
1861		Bell’s Life in Sydney 8 Aug. 3/2: The other [prisoner] was brought into Fort-street suffering severely fro the ‘balls’ he had received in th encounter with Bacchus.
1876		St Louis Globe-Democrat 19 Jan. n.p.: The party arrange themselves at the bar and are invited [...] to ‘have some whisk,’ or ‘take a smile,’ ‘have one,’ ‘take a ball,’ ‘take a hist,’ ‘take a horn,’ ‘take a noggin,’ ‘get vaccinated,’ all of which mean that one and all shall have a drink.
1885		J.S. Borlase Blue Cap, the Bushranger 591/21: Come and take a ball at my expense.
1889		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 21 Dec. 10/1: [headline] isn’t it just horrid? / That Baseballists Indulge, sometimes, in a ‘Ball?’.
1894		S. Crane in N.Y. Press 22 Apr. in Stallman (1966) 41: Th’ on’y thing I really needs is a ball. Me t’roat feels like a fryin’ pan.
1894		‘Price Warung’ Tales of the Early Days 293: [note] ‘Balls’ — Convict term for ‘free drinks.’.
1902		C.L. Cullen More Ex-Tank Tales 224: ‘Now,’ I’d say to the proprietor of the ball joint, [...] ‘with regard to the number of chances.’.
1908		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 16: [...] Yes I’ll have a ball. It might cheer me up a bit.
1921		A.C. Inman 21 June diary in Aaron (1985) 188: I’ll give you a ‘ball’ for a smoke. Got a fine bottle of gin. Have one on me.
1925		S. O’Casey Juno and the Paycock Act II: There’s nothin’ like a ball o’ malt occasional like.
1926		Judge (NY) 91 July-Dec. 31: Get on the Ball - To go on a drunk.
1933		‘William Juniper’ True Drunkard’s Delight.
1940		E. O’Neill Iceman Cometh Act III: Yuh look sick, Willie. Take a ball to pick yuh up.
1943		‘Myles na gCopaleen’ Faustus Kelly in ‘Flann O’Brien’ Stories & Plays (1973) 186: Shure if you’d any sense, you’d be out swallying balls of malt like the rest of us.
1955		B. Schulberg On the Waterfront (1964) 48: C’mon [...] Let’s go get a coupla balls in us.
1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 66: Three buckets of porter [...] And a ball of malt for myself.
1971		R.D. Pharr S.R.O. (1998) 130: ‘Ball? How could I be having a ball?’ ‘A rdink. Don’t you kow what it means to have a ball or two?’.
1975		W. Trevor Angels at the Ritz 172: After a day listening to rubbish it’s a pleasure to take a ball of malt with him.
1985		J.A. Lukas Common Ground 148: Charlestown’s standard order was ‘a ball and a beer’ — a shot of Old Thompson’s rye washed down by a draft of Croft ale.
1989		H. Leonard Out After Dark 139: An old friend would waylay her [...] and, taking no refusal, steer her into a snug for just a thimbleful of sherry or a ball of malt.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 31: Wash ’em down with a ball and a beer.
2003		Guardian Sport 26 July 24/6: I sat slumped in front of a crackling fire and swallowed a warm ball of complimentary malt.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 200: I could have used a drink. A ball of Bush, a pint of stout.
2016		Guardian Review 2 Apr. 🌐 What the reaction would be of Flann O’Brien [...] to the gushing lip-service we pay these days to our dead writer[...] can be easily guessed: a sardonic shrug, and a turning back to the bar to order another ball of malt.