[bawl] 
| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 19. | ball up, Slang. to make or become utterly confused; muddle: The records had been all balled up by inefficient file clerks. |
| 20. | ball the jack, Slang.
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| 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,
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| 25. | play ball,
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| 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. |
ball (bôl)
n.
A spherical object or mass.
A bezoar.
A large pill or bolus.