What does ball mean?

What does ball mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does ball mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games(the ball travelled 90 mph on his serve the mayor threw out the first ball the ball rolled into the corner pocket)[v] form into a ball by winding or rolling(ball wool)[n] a solid projectile that is shot by a musket(they had to carry

ball

ball - The Free Dictionary

[n] round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
(the ball travelled 90 mph on his serve the mayor threw out the first ball the ball rolled into the corner pocket)

[v] form into a ball by winding or rolling
(ball wool)

[n] a solid projectile that is shot by a musket
(they had to carry a ramrod as well as powder and ball)

[n] an object with a spherical shape
(a ball of fire)

[n] the people assembled at a lavish formal dance
(the ball was already emptying out before the fire alarm sounded)

[n] one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens
(she kicked him in the balls and got away)

[n] a spherical object used as a plaything
(he played with his rubber ball in the bathtub)

[n] United States comedienne best known as the star of a popular television program (1911-1989)

[n] a compact mass
(a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder)

[n] a lavish dance requiring formal attire

[n] a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass
(the ball at the base of the thumb he stood on the balls of his feet)

[n] the game of baseball

[n] a pitch that is not in the strike zone
(he threw nine straight balls before the manager yanked him)

Other vocabulary

b, b battery, b cell, b complex, b horizon, b lymphocyte, b vitamin, b-52, b-complex vitamin, b-flat clarinet, b-girl, b-horizon, b-meson, b-scan ultrasonography, b. b. king, b. f. skinner, b.c., b.c.e., b.o., b.t.u., b.th.u., ba, baa, baa-lamb, baader meinhof gang, baader-meinhof gang, baal, baal merodach, baas, baba, a, a battery, a bit, a capella singing, a cappella, a cappella singing, a couple of, a few, a fortiori, a good deal, a great deal, a horizon, a hundred times, a kempis, a la carte, a la mode, a level, a little, a lot, a million times, a posteriori, a priori, a trifle, a'man, a-bomb, a-horizon, a-line, a-list, a-ok, a-okay

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.