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play ball

 [bawl]   Origin

ball

1   [bawl]
noun
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, especially 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.
a.
a solid, usually spherical projectile for a cannon, rifle, pistol, etc., as distinguished from a shell.
b.
projectiles, especially bullets, collectively.
EXPAND
6.
any part of a thing, especially 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, especially 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.
COLLAPSE
Ball Play www.ask.com/Ball+Play Search Ball Play Q&A for Ball Play
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verb (used with object)
14.
to make into a ball (sometimes followed 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.

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Play ball is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
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, 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.
EXPAND
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.
COLLAPSE
Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English bal, balle < Old French < Germanic *ballaz; compare Old Norse bǫllr, Old High German bal, ballo, balla, German Ball, Dutch bal; perhaps akin to Latin follis leather bag; see ballock(s)

Related forms
ball·er, noun

Can be confused: bald, balled, bawled.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To play ball
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

ball
"dancing party," 1630s, from Fr., from O.Fr. baller "to dance," from L.L. ballare "to dance," from Gk. ballizein "to dance, jump about" (see ballistics). Hence, "very enjoyable time," 1945, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps back to 1930s in black slang.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

ball (bôl)
n.

  1. A spherical object or mass.

  2. A bezoar.

  3. A large pill or bolus.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

ball definition


  1. n.
    a wild time at a party; a good time. : We really had a ball. See ya!
  2. n.
    a testicle. (Usually plural. Usually objectionable. See also balls.) : The teacher preferred “testicles” to “balls,” if they had to be mentioned at all.
  3. in.
    to enjoy oneself. (Ambiguous with the next sense.) : The whole crowd was balling and having a fine time.
  4. in.
    to depart; to leave. : It's late. Let's ball.
  5. tv. & in.
    to copulate [with] someone. (Usually objectionable.) : Isn't there anything more to you than balling?
  6. in.
    to play a ball game. (Probably a deliberate pun on sense 5.) : Bob's out balling with the guys.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

play ball (with (so)) definition


  1. tv.
    to cooperate with someone. : Are you going to play ball, or do I have to report you to the boss?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

play ball

  1. Cooperate, as in The opposing attorneys refused to play ball with us. [Slang; c. 1900]

  2. Get going, start, as in It's time to get a move on; let's play ball. This usage comes from the baseball umpire's call to start a game. [Slang; late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
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