balling 
balling 1 (ba'ling), n. [Verbal n. of ball 1 , r.] 
The act or process of making into balls ; the 
act of assuming the form of a ball ; specifically, 
in the process of puddling, the forming of the 
iron into balls or rounded masses of a size con- 
venient for handling. 
balling'- 2 (ba'ling), w. [Verbal n. of balP, v.] 
The frequenting of balls ; dancing. [Rare.] 
balling-furnace (ba'liug-fer"nas), n. [< bull- 
ing, verbal n. of ball 1 , v., + furnace.'] 1. A 
furnace in which piles or fagots of metal are 
placed to be heated preparatory to rolling. It 
resembles a puddling-f umace. 2. A reverbe- 
ratory furnace used in alkali-works. 
balling-gun (ba'ling-gun), n. An instrument 
for administering to horses medicine rolled 
into balls. It consists of a tube from which the air is 
partially exhausted ; the ball is held on the end of the 
tube by atmospheric pressure, and is released by a piston 
when fairly within the esophagus. E. If. Kniyht. 
balling-iron (ba/ling-I"ern), n. A hook-shaped 
tool for removing snow from the feet of a horse. 
balling-machine (ba'ling-ma-shen"), n. A ma- 
chine for balling cotton thread. 
balling-tool (ba'ling-tol), n. The tool used in 
collecting into a mass the iron in a puddling- 
f urnace preparatory to taking it to the hammer 
or squeezer ; a rabble. 
ball-ironstone (bal'i"ern-st6n), 7i.. In English 
mining, nodular iron ore. Also called ball-mine 
and ball-vein. 
ballisedt, . [Appar. for 'pallised, < F. palisse', 
pp. of palisser, surround with pales : see pali- 
sade.] Inclosed with a railing or balustrade. 
Wotton. (N. E. D.) 
ballismus (ba-lis'mus), re. [NL., < Gr. 
/if, a jumping about, dancing, < fl 
jump about, dance: see balft.] In pathol., a 
name which has been given to chorea, to pa- 
ralysis agitans, and to other forms of tremor. 
ballist (bal'ist), n. [Early mod. E. also balist, 
< ME. balist, < L. ballista, balista : see ballista.] 
Same as ballista. [Rare.] 
ballista, balista (ba-lis'ta), re. ; pi. ballistte, ba- 
lista (-te). [L., occasionally (in gloss.) ballistra, 
appar. formed on a Greek model, < Gr. 
throw.] 1. An ancient military engine used 
for throwing missiles. The different references to 
It are contradictory, as it is described as acting by means 
of a bow, but also as throwing large stones rather than 
darts. An attempt has been made to reconcile these 
statements by representing the engine as composed of a 
strong shaft, rotating on one of its ends, and having at 
the other end a receptacle for the missile ; this shaft would 
be thrown forward by the recoil of a steel bow, and stopped 
suddenly against a transom, thus releasing the missile. 
Throughout the middle ages the term is used in Latin 
writings for military engines of different kinds. See tre- 
bucket, mangonel, enable, petronel, piernere, and catapult. 
When used as a bearing in heraldry, the ballista is repre- 
sented so simplified as to be hardly recognizable. It has 
generally two upright posts with a movable bar between 
them, shown loaded at one end. 
2. [NL.] In anat., the astragalus, a bone of 
the tarsus. 
ballistic (ba-lis'tik), a. [< ballista + -K.] Per- 
taining to ballistics r or the scientific construc- 
tion and use of projectiles Ballistic curve, the 
actual path of a projectile, as distinguished from the theo- 
retical or parabolic path. Ballistic galvanometer. 
See galvanometer. Ballistic pendulum, an apparatus 
invented by Benjamin Robins for ascertaining the velocity 
of military projectiles, and consequent]; the explosive 
force of gunpowder. A piece of ordnance is Bred against 
a cast-iron case filled with bags of sand, which forms the 
ball of a pendulum, and the percussion causes the pendu- 
lum to vibrate. The distance through which it vibrates 
is measured on a copper arc by an index carrying a ver- 
nier, and the amount of vibration forms a measure of the 
force or velocity of the ball. The ballistic pendulum is 
now nearly superseded by various forms of apparatus for 
measuring the time occupied by the passage of the shot 
from one screen or wire to another. See elcctnballiitic. 
ballistics (ba-lis'tiks), n. [PI. of ballistic : see 
-4es.] 1. The science or art of discharging 
large missiles by the use of the ballista or other 
engine. 2. The science of the motion of pro- 
jectiles. 
ballium (bal'i-um), n. [ML. : see baitf and bai- 
leul.] 1. Same as bail*, 5. 2. Same as bailey 1 . 
ball-ioint (bal'joint), n. A jointed connection 
in which one of the connected pieces has a ball- 
shaped extremity, fitting a cup-shaped socket 
in the other. 
ball-lever (bariev"er), n. The lever of a ball- 
cock. 
ball-mine (bal'mln), . Same as ball-ironstone. 
ball-mounting (barmoun"ting), . A kind of 
harness-mounting having a ball where a ring 
is fastened to the base. 
ballock (bal'ok), n. [< ME. ballok, balJidc, balok, 
< AS. beallue, < *beallu or 'bealla, a ball, + dim. 
-ttc: see ball 1 , 20, and -ocfc.] A testicle. [Ob- 
solete or vulgar.] 
432 
ballont, " [< F. ballon, balon, dim. of ballc, 
bale, a bale ; in def. 2, obs. form of balloon : see 
balloon 1 .] 1. A bale of paper, etc. 2. Same 
as balloon 1 , \. '2. 
balloon 1 (ba-lon'), n. [In some senses also 
ballon, after F. ; early mod. E. baloon, balounc, 
balone, liallonc, < It. ballone, pullone, a large 
ball, a foot-ball (now distinguished: ballone, a 
large bale, pullonf, a foot-ball, balloon) (= Sp. 
balon, a foot-ball, a large bale, = Pg. balao, a 
balloon, = F. ballon, a fardle or small pack, 
balon, " a little ball or pack, also a foot-ball or 
balloon" (Cotgrave), now ballon (after It.), a 
foot-ball, balloon, swelling hill), aug. (in F. 
prop, dim.) of balla, etc., a ball, bale: see 
ball 1 , bait*.] If. A large inflated ball of leather, 
used in playing certain games; a game played 
with such a ball. It was tossed to and fro by either 
hand or foot, the hand being defended by a guard (bnl- 
loon-brasser). See fool-ball. 
'Tis easier sport than the baloon. lleywood. 
It was my envied lot to lead the winning party at that 
wondrous match at ballon, made betwixt the divine As- 
trophel (our matchless Sidney) and the right honourable 
my very good Lord of Oxford. Scott, Monastery, II. iii. 
2. In chcni., a round vessel with a short neck, 
used as a receiver in distillation; a glass re- 
ceiver of a spherical form. 3. In arch., a ball 
or globe on the top of a pillar. 4. In pyro- 
technics, a ball of pasteboard or a kind of bomb 
stuffed with combustibles, which, bursting like 
a bomb, exhibits sparks of fire like stars. 5. 
In weaving, a cylindrical reel on which sized 
woolen yarn for warp is wound in order to be 
dried by rapid revolution in a heated chamber. 
6. A bag or hollow vessel filled with hydro- 
fen gas or heated air, or any other gaseous 
uid lighter than common air, and thus caused 
to rise and float in the atmosphere, it is made 
of silk or other light material, varnished with caoutchouc 
dissolved in turpentine. A network of twine envelops the 
balloon, and is tied to a circular hoop a little below it, from 
which a car, usually consisting of a large wicker basket, is 
suspended. A valve in the bottom of the balloon can be 
opened and closed at pleasure by means of a string, and 
the basket is furnished with sand-bags as ballast. If the 
aeronaut wishes to ascend, he throws out some of the bal- 
last; if to descend, be opens the valve. Balloons have 
been successfully used for military purposes (see captive 
balloon, below), and, in the case of besieged cities, as a 
medium of communication with the outside world. 
7. In comic engravings, a figure shaped like a 
balloon and inclosing words which are repre- 
sented as issuing from the mouth of a speaker. 
Captive balloon, a balloon anchored or attached to 
the ground by means of a rope, which may be either per- 
manently fixed or connected with an anchor which can 
be raised at pleasure. Such balloons have been employed 
for military reconnoissance. Steering balloon, a bal- 
loon capable of being steered. One such was invented 
by M. Dupuy de Lome during the siege of Paris in 1871. 
The rudder is said to be able to deflect the machine 11" to 
either side of the direct line in which the wind is blow- 
ing, so that a balloon leaving Paris with the wind straight 
for Brussels could be landed at either London or Cologne. 
balloon' 2 (bal'o-on), n. [Also balloen, balon, 
ballong = Sp. balon = Pg. balao; from the native 
name.] A state barge of Siam, made in fanci- 
ful imitation of a sea-monster, and having 70 to 
100 oars on a side. 
balloon-ballt (ba-lon'bal), n. Same as bal- 
loon 1 , 1. 
I'll make him the balloon-ball of the churches, 
And both the sides shall toss him. 
Sliddleton, Game at Chess, ii. 2. 
balloon-boiler (ba-lon'boi"ler), n. A steam- 
boiler having a form somewhat resembling that 
of a balloon. 
balloon-brassert, n. [< balloon 1 + brasser, a 
form of bracer, after P. brassard, also brassal 
(Cotgrave): see def.] A brace or guard of 
wood, tised by balloon-players (see balloon 1 , 1) 
to protect the hand and arm. 
ballooned (ba-16nd'), a. Swelled out like a 
balloon. 
ballooner (ba-lo'ner), n. A balloonist; an 
aeronaut. 
balloon-fish (ba-lon 'fish), H. A globefish; a 
fish of the order Pleetognathi and suborder Gym- 
mu [^i nuiloii tes, as 
the tropical Tc- 
-- traodon linea- 
tus, or striped 
J spine-belly, or 
* a species of 
i one of the gen- 
f era Trioilon 
i? stnAIHodon. So 
called because it 
has the power of 
swallowing air, 
which is retained 
in a dilatation of 
Balloon-fish ( Tetraodon lineatits}. the esophagus, 
ballot 
and thus nf blowing itself up into a nearly spherical shape 
like a balloon. The ivory-like tips of the jawbones cleft 
above and below, as in Trtraodon, give the fish the appear- 
ance of having four teeth, two above and two below. See 
ballooning (ba-16'ning), n. [< balloon 1 + -ing 1 .] 
1. The art or practice of ascending in and of 
managing balloons. 2. In political and stock- 
exchange slang, the operation of booming a 
candidate, or of inflating the money-market, 
by means of ficti- 
tious favorable re- 
ports. 
i:<>/{:,<>itmy indeed 
goes on. 
Je/erson, Correspon- 
dence, I. 323. 
balloonist (ba-16'- 
uist), 11. [< bal- 
loun 1 + -int.] One 
who ascends in a 
balloon ; an aero- 
naut. 
balloon-jib (ba- 
lou'jib), H. A tri- - 
angular sail made 
of light canvas, 
used only by yachts 
and in light winds, set between the foretop- 
mast-head and the end of the jib-boom. 
balloon-net (ba-lon'net), 7i. A kind of woven 
lace in which the weft-threads are twisted in a 
peculiar manner round the warps. E. H. Knight. 
balloonry (ba-16n'ri), n. [< balloon 1 + -rij.] 
The art or practice of ascending in a balloon. 
Quarterly Rev. 
balloon-sail (ba-lon'sal), n. Light canvas used 
in yachts, as the balloon-jib, the spinnaker, 
balloon-topsails and -foresails, and the shadow- 
sail and water-sail. 
balloon-vine (ba-lon'vin), n. A herbaceous 
climbing plant, Cardiospermum Halicacabum, 
a. Balloon-jib. 
Balloon-vine (Cardiospermunt Halicacatntm). 
a, inflated capsule or pod, about one half natural size. ( From Gray's 
"Genera of the Plants of the United States.") 
natural order Sapindacea:, found in all tropical 
countries. It bears a large, 3-celled, bladder- 
like pod. Also called hcartseed. 
ballot 1 (bal'ot), n. [First in the 16th century, 
< It. ballotta"= F. ballotte, balotte, a little ball, 
esp. as used for voting, a vote, suffrage, = Sp. 
batata, a ballot (ML. ballotta), dim. of balla, a 
ball: see ball* and -o*.] 1. A little ball used 
in voting. Hence 2. A ticket or slip of pa- 
per, sometimes called a voting-paper, used for 
the same purpose, on which is printed or writ- 
ten an expression of the elector's choice as be- 
tween candidates or propositions to be voted 
for. 3. A method of secret voting by means 
of small balls, or of printed or written ballots, 
which are deposited in an urn or a box called 
a ballot-box. In the former case, each person who is 
entitled to vote, having the choice of two balls, one white 
and one black, places a white ball in the box if he is in 
favor of the resolution proposed, as the admission of a 
person to membership in a club, or a black ball if he is op- 
posed to it. Hence, to blackball a person is to vote against 
his election. In the latter case, the ballots or voting- 
papers are so folded as to prevent the voter's preference 
from being disclosed, and are usually handed to an au- 
thorized officer called an inspector of elections, to be de- 
posited in the box in the voter's presence. The ballot is 
now employed in all popular elections in the United 
States(except in the State elections of Kentucky, in which 
the voting is viva voce), throughout the United Kingdom 
and the British colonies, and in the national or parliamen- 
tary elections in Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, and 
most other countries of continental Europe. 
4. A casting of ballots ; a vote by ballot ; also, 
the whole number of votes cast or recorded: 
