–noun

1.

a game in which clubs with wooden or metal heads are used to hit a small, white ball into a number of holes, usually 9 or 18, in succession, situated at various distances over a course having natural or artificial obstacles, the object being to get the ball into each hole in as few strokes as possible.

2.	a word used in communications to represent the letter G.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to play golf.

–noun < 3e8 td class="dnindex">1.

a spherical or approximately spherical body or shape; sphere: He rolled the piece of paper into a ball.

2.	a round or roundish body, of various sizes and materials, either hollow or solid, for use in games, as baseball, football, tennis, or golf.

3.	a game played with a ball, esp. baseball: The boys are out playing ball.

4.	Baseball. a pitched ball, not swung at by the batter, that does not pass over home plate between the batter's shoulders and knees.

5.	Military. ed2 a. a solid, usually spherical projectile for a cannon, rifle, pistol, etc., as distinguished from a shell. b. projectiles, esp. bullets, collectively.

6.	any part of a thing, esp. of the human body, that is rounded or protuberant: the ball of the thumb.

7.	a round mass of food, as of chopped meat, dough, or candy.

8.	Slang: Vulgar. a testis.

9.	balls, Slang: Vulgar. a. boldness; courage; brashness. b. nonsense (often used as an interjection).

10.	bolus (def. 1).

11.	Horticulture. a compact mass of soil covering the roots of an uprooted tree or other plant.

12.	Literary. a planetary or celestial body, esp. the earth.

13.	Mathematics. (in a metric space) the set of points whose distance from the zero element is less than, or less than or equal to, a specified number.

–verb (used with object)

14.	to make into a ball (sometimes fol. by up): The children were balling up snow to make a snowman.

15.	to wind into balls: to ball cotton.

16.	Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse with.

–verb (used without object)

17.	to form or gather into a ball: When the spun sugar balls, the candy has cooked sufficiently.

18.	Slang: Vulgar. to have sexual intercourse.

—Verb phrase

19.	ball up, Slang. to make or become utterly confused; muddle: The records had been all balled up by inefficient file clerks.

—Idioms

20.	ball the jack, Slang. a. to act with speed. b. to stake everything on one attempt.

21.	carry the ball, to assume the responsibility; bear the burden: You can always count on him to carry the ball in an emergency.

22.	drop the ball, to make a mistake or miss an opportunity at a critical moment.

23.	keep the ball rolling, be7 to continue or give renewed vigor to an activity already under way: When their interest lagged, he tried to keep the ball rolling.

24.	on the ball, a. alert and efficient or effective: If you don't get on the ball, you'll be fired. b. indicating intelligence or ability: The tests show your students don't have much on the ball. The new manager has a lot on the ball.

25.	play ball, a. to begin or continue playing a game. b. to start or continue any action. c. to work together; cooperate: union leaders suspected of playing ball with racketeers.

26.	run with the ball, to assume responsibility or work enthusiastically: If management approves the concept, we'll run with the ball.

27.	start the ball rolling, to put into operation; begin: The recreation director started the ball rolling by having all the participants introduce themselves.