ball 
ball, = OHG. *bal, m., ballo, pallo, m., balla, 
palla, f., MHG. Ml, ballc, m., G. ball, m., a ball, 
ballen, m., a bale, package, = Icel. b<illr = Norw. 
ball, ball, = Sw. boll, ball, bal, bale, = Dan. bal, 
billiard-ball, balde, ball (in anat.), balle, bale, 
bold, playing-ball ; not found in Goth. Hence 
(from OHG.) ML. ba/la, jiaUti, bala, a ball, a 
bale, >li. balla, pa/la, aball (now distinguished: 
btdla, a bale, palla, a ball), Sp. Pg. Pr. bala, a 
ball, a bale, = F. balle, OF. balle, bale, a ball, a 
bale, > D. baal = OFlem. bale, Flem. bal, MLG. 
bale = ME. bale, E. bale, prop, a round bundle: 
see bale s . Appar. a native Teut. word, akin to 
boll 1 , bowl 1 , q. v., and to L.foltifi, a wind-bag, 
an inflated ball for playing, > ult. E. fool : see 
fool 1 and follicle, etc. The Gr. miiUa, a ball, is 
appar. a different word, but it may be the source 
of ML. and It. palla. See balloon, ballot.] 1. 
A spherical or approximately spherical body ; a 
sphere ; a globe : as, a ball of snow, of thread, 
of twine, etc. Specifically 2. A round or 
nearly round body, of different materials and 
sizes, for use in various games, as base-ball, 
foot-ball, cricket, tennis, billiards, etc. 3. A 
game played with a ball, especially base-ball 
or any modification of it. 4. A toss or throw 
of a ball in a game : as, a swift ball; a high or 
low ball. 5. In base-ball, a pitch such that the 
ball fails to pass over the home-plate not high- 
er than the shoulder nor lower than the knees 
of the striker: as, the pitcher is allowed five 
balls by the rules of the game. 6. A small 
spherical body of wood or ivory used in voting 
by ballot. See ballot 1 and blackball. 7. The 
missile or projectile thrown from a firearm or 
other engine of war; a bullet or cannon-ball, 
whether spherical (as originally) or conical or 
cylindrical (as now commonly) ; in artillery, a 
solid projectile, as distinguished from a hollow 
one called a shell (which see). 8. Projectiles, 
and more particularly bullets, collectively: as, 
to supply a regiment with powder and ball; the 
troops were ordered to load with ball. 9. In 
printing, a rounded mass or cushion of hair or 
wool, covered with soft leather or skin, and fas- 
tened to a stock called a ball-stock, used (gen- 
erally in pairs, one for each hand) before the 
invention of the roller to ink type on the press : 
still in use by wood-engravers, but made of 
smaller size, and with a silk instead of a lea- 
ther face. A similar ball is used in inking the blocks in 
calico-printing. That used by engravers in spreading an 
etching-ground is called a dabber. 
10. A clew or cop of thread, twine, or yarn. 
lit. A spherical piece of soap. 
Then she said to her maids, bring me oil and washing 
bull*, and shut the garden doors, that I may wash me. 
Susantm (Apocrypha), i. 17. 
For my part, I'll go and get a sweet ball, and wash my 
hands of it. Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, ii. 1. 
12. A rounded package; a bale. 13. In 
metal., one of the masses of iron, weighing 
about 80 pounds, into which, in the process 
of converting pig-iron into wrought-iron by 
puddling, the iron in the reyerberatory fur- 
nace is made up as soon as it begins to as- 
sume a pasty condition. As fast as the iron is 
balled it is taken out of the furnace, and is first ham- 
mered or squeezed, and then rolled into bars of any 
desired form. 
14. In med., a bolus ; a large pill : now only in 
veterinary medicine. 15. In pyrotechnics, a 
globular mass of combustible ingredients, or a 
case filled with them, designed to set fire to 
something or to give forth light, etc. ; a fire- 
ball. 16. In cabinet-work, the composition of 
shoemakers' wax used in waxing black-work. 
17. Any part of a thing, especially of the 
human body, that is rounded or protuberant : 
as, the ball of the eye ; the ball of the thumb ; 
the ball of a dumb-bell ; the ball of a pendulum, 
that is, the bob or weight at the bottom. 
Is the ball of his sight much more dear to him ? 
Lamb, My Relations. 
18f. The central hollow of the palm of the 
hand. 19. The central part of an animal's 
foot. 20. A testicle: generally in the plural. 
[Vulgar. ] 2 1 . A hand-tool with a rounded end 
arranged for cutting hollow forms. 22. A 
round valve in an inclosed chamber, operated 
by the flow of the liquid through the chamber ; 
a ball-valve. 23. In lapidary-work, a small 
spherical grinder of lead used in hollowing out 
the under side of certain stones, as carbuncles, 
to make them thinner and thus more transpar- 
ent. 24. The globe; the earth. [Now rare.] 
Julius and Anthony, those lords of all, 
low at her feet present the conquered ball. 
Granville. 
Ball-and-Socket 
Joint. 
430 
Ye gods, what justice rules the ball ? 
Freedom and arts together fall. 
Pope, Chorus to Brutus, 1. 25. 
I A globe representing the earth is a common symbol of 
sovereignty ; hence Bacon has the phrase tf> hold the ball 
of a kingdom, in the sense of to bear sovereignty over it.] 
A ball fired, in her., a globe with fire issuing from the 
top. When it is intended to represent the lire issuing in 
more places than one, it is so expressed in the blazon : as, 
a ball fired in four places. Ball and socket, an in- 
strument made of brass, with a universal screw, to move 
horizontally, obliquely, or vertically, used in managing 
surveying and astronomical instruments. Ball-and- 
socket coupling, a ball-and-socket joint used for a re- 
volving rod or sluift, principally to change the direction of 
the line of transmission of motion, but sometimes to allow 
for any yielding of the supports which would bring the 
shafting out of line. Ball-and-socket hanger, a hanger 
in which the box or bearing is attached to the bracket or 
pendant by a spherical segment-joint, to allow for a spring 
of the shaft or rod, or other cause which may bring the 
shaft out of line and thus occasion excessive friction and 
wear. Ball-and-socket joint, a natural or an artificial 
joint formed by a ball or knob working in 
a socket. In anat. it is a kind of articu- 
lation technically called enarthrotfin, ex- 
emplified in the hip-joint and shoul- 
der-joint. Also called cup-and-ball joint. 
Ball-and-socket pillow-block, in 
mech., a pillow-block which, within cer- 
tain limits, can accommodate itself to the 
line of the shafting. Ball Of a pendu- 
lum, a bob. See bobl. Ball Of the eye. See eyeball. 
Ball Of the foot, the protuberant part of the sole at 
the base of the great toe, with the smaller eminences at 
the bases of the other toes, upon which the body rests 
when the heel is elevated. Ball Of the thumb, the 
fleshy mass at the base of the thumb on the side of the 
palm ; the volar or thenar eminence. Ball soda, crude 
soda. Golden balls. See golden. Venetian ball, in 
jllaas-manuf., a filigree work inclosed in a transparent 
ball. = Syn. Sphere, etc. See globe. 
ball 1 (bal), v. [<6aKi,.j I. trans. 1. To make 
into a ball. Specifically (a) In the manufacture of 
cotton, to wind into balls. (6) In metal., to heat in a fur- 
nace and then form into balls for rolling. 
2. To surround in a compact cluster, as bees 
when they surround the queen bee. 
This is more apt to happen when a strange queen is 
introduced to a colony, but sometimes a colony will ball 
their own queen if unusually excited or disturbed. ... If 
not soon released, the queen dies and is thrown out of 
the hive. Dzieron tells us that bees sometimes ball their 
queen for the purpose of protecting her from the attacks 
of strange bees. Phin, Diet. Apiculture, p. 10. 
II. intrans. 1 . To form or gather into a ball, 
as snow on horses' hoofs, or mud on the feet. 
2. To remain in a solid mass instead of scat- 
tering: said of shot discharged from a gun. 
To ball up. (a) In a puddling- or balling-furnace, to 
form the ball preparatory to rolling. (&) To fail ; mis- 
carry. [Slang.] 
ball 2 (bal), n. [First in the 17th century, = 
D. Sw. Dan. bal = G. ball, < F. bal = Pr. bal = 
Sp. Pg. baile = It. ballo (ML. ballus), dancing, 
a dance; from the verb, F. bailer, OF. baler (> 
ME. balen, rare) = Pr. bailor = Sp. Pg. bailar 
= It. ballare, < LL. ballare, dance, < Gr. (in Sicily 
and Italy) /3a/l/U'fe(i>, dance, jump about, appar. 
< fid'AAetv, throw. Hence ballad, ballet^.] It. A 
dance; dancing. 
They had got a Calf of Gold and were Dancing about it. 
But it was a Dismal Ball, and they paid dear for their 
Junket. Penn, Add. to Prot., p. 19. (A". E. D.) 
2. A social assembly of persons of both sexes 
for the purpose of dancing. 
In various talk th' instructive hours they pass'd, 
Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last. 
Pope, K. of the!., iii. 12. 
She began, for the first time that evening, to feel her- 
self at a ball: she longed to dance, but she had not an ac- 
quaintance in the room. 
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, p. 8. 
To open the ball, to begin the dancing ; hence, figura- 
tively, to begin operations ; lead otf, as in a discussion or 
a battle. 
ball 2 (bal), v. i. [< ball?, .] To take part in 
aball; dance. [Rare.] 
It is the temperature that sets people dancinp and ball- 
nig. Harper's Mag., X. 821. 
balPt (bal), n. [Not found in ME., but per- 
haps existent, as the possible source of the 
adj. ballede, balled, balde, E. bald 1 , q. v., and of 
ballard 1 , q. v. ; < W. bal, having a white streak 
on the forehead, as a horse, bali, a white streak, 
= Bret, bal, a white mark on an animal's face, 
= Ir. Gael, bal, a spot, mark, freckle. Cf. Gr. 
<f><zAof, shining, white, 0aAi6f, white, ^a/lapof, <j>d- 
/>.apof, having a spot of white, as a dog, ^aAa/cpoc, 
bald-headed, perhaps ult. connected with E. 
fiafe 2 , a fire. Hence prob. bald 1 and ballard 1 .] 
1. A white streak or spot. 
The ii. propertyes of a bauson [badger]. The fyrste 
is to haue a whyte rase or a ball in the foreheed ; the 
seconde, to haue a whyte fote. 
Fitzherbert, Husbandry, 73. (N. E. D.) 
2. A horse or nag (originally, white-faced) : 
used appellatively, like dun, bayard. 
ball*t, " An obsolete form of bawl 1 . 
balladry 
bal! 5 t, An obsolete form of bal. 
balla (biU'la), n. [It., a bundle, package, bale : 
see bale 3 .} " In lace-making, a sort of cushion 
used by the Maltese laee-makers. 
ballacet, An obsolete form of ballast. 
ballad (bal'ad), n. [Early mod. E. also ballade, 
also (after "It.) ballat, ballatt, ballet, ballette, 
balette (with term, conformed to -et ; cf. salad, 
formerly sallet), Sc. corruptly ballant ; < ME. 
balade, < OF. balade, mod. ballade, a dancing- 
song, < Pr. Pg. ballada = OSp. balada = It. bal- 
lata, a dance, a dancing-song, < ballare, dance : 
see feW 2 .] If. A song intended as an accom- 
paniment to a dance. 2f. The tune to which 
such a song is sung. 3. A short narrative 
poem, especially one adapted for singing; a 
poem partly epic and partly lyric. As applied to 
the minstrelsy of the borders of England and Scotland, and 
of Scandinavia and Spain, the ballad is a sort of minor 
epic, reciting in verse more or less rude the exploits of 
warriors, the adventures of lovers, and the mysteries of 
fairyland, designed to be rehearsed in musical recitative 
accompanied by the harp. 
Roundel, baladc.s, and virelay. Gower, Conf. Amant. 
The ballad ... is the lyrically dramatic expression of 
actions and events in the lives of others. 
W. Sharp, D. O. Rossetti, p. 355. 
4. In music, originally, a short and simple 
vocal melody, often adapted to more than one 
stanza of poetry and having a simple instru- 
mental accompaniment. The term is sometimes 
applied to instrumental melodies of a similar character, 
and more loosely to more elaborate compositions in which 
a narrative idea is intended to be expressed. 
balladt (Bal'ad), v. [Early mod. E. also ballat, 
ballet; from the noun.] I. intrans. To make 
or sing ballads. 
These envious libellers ballad against them. 
Donne, Juvenilia, i. 
II. trans. To celebrate in a ballad. 
Rhymers ballad us out o' tune. 
Shak., A. and C., v. 2. 
She has told all : I shall be balloted, 
Sung up and downe by Minstrells. 
Heywood, A Challenge, iii. 1. 
I make but repetition 
Of what is ordinary and Ryalto talk, 
And ballated, and wou 
Id be play'd o' the stage. 
Webster, White Devil. 
ballade (ba-lad'), m. [F. : see ballad, n.~] 1. A 
poem consisting of one or more triplets each 
formed of stanzas of seven or eight lines, the 
last line being a refrain common to all the 
stanzas. 2. A poem divided into stanzas hav- 
ing the same number of lines, commonly seven 
or eight Ballade royal, a ballade in which each line 
consists of ten syllables. 
ballader (bal'ad-er), . [Early mod. E. also 
ballater, balletter; < ballad, v., + -er 1 .] A writer 
or singer of ballads ; a balladist. 
balladic (ba-lad'ik), , [< ballad + -jc.] Of, 
pertaining to, or of the nature of ballads. 
balladical (ba-lad'i-kal), a. Same as balladic. 
balladiert, n. [< ballad + -ier: see -eer.~] A 
public ballad-singer. 
balladine (bal'a-den). n. [Formerly also bal- 
ladin, recently also baladine; < F. balladin, now 
baladin, m., baladine, f., < ballade, a ballad: see 
ballad.'] It. A theatrical dancer. 2. A fe- 
male public dancer. [Bare.] 
The first breathing woman's cheek, 
First dancer's, gipsy's, or street baladine'*. 
Broitming, In a Balcony. 
3t. A ballad-maker. 
balladism (bal'ad-izm), . [< ballad + -ism.'] 
The characteristic quality of ballads. N. E. D. 
balladist (bal'ad-ist), n. [< ballad + -**.] 
A writer or singer of ballads. 
balladize (bal'ad-Iz), t 1 . ; pret. and pp. ballad- 
ized, ppr. balladizing. [< ballad + -ise.'] I. 
trans. To convert into the form of a ballad ; 
make a ballad of or about. 
II. intrans. To make ballads. 
balladling (bal'ad-ling), n. [< ballad + -ling.'} 
A little ballad. Southey. 
ballad-maker (barad-ma"ker), n. A writer of 
ballads. Shak. 
balladmonger (barad-mung"ger), n. A dealer 
in ballads ; an inferior poet ; a poetaster. 
I had rather be a kitten and cry mew, 
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 
To make herself the pipe and balladmonger of a circle ! 
to soothe her light heart with catches and glees ! 
Sheridan, The Rivals, ii. 1. 
ballad-opera (barad-op"e-ra), n. An opera in 
which ballads or popular songs are sung. 
balladry (bal'ad-ri), n. [Early mod. E. also 
balletry, ballatry; < ballad + -ry.~\ Poetry of 
the ballad kind ; the style of ballads. 
