balls

Ball  (bôl), John Called "the Mad Priest." Died 1381.

English social agitator who was executed for his role in the Peasants' Revolt (1381).

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Ball, Lucille 1911-1989.

American actress best known as the star of the popular situation comedy I Love Lucy (1951-1957).

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ball ¹  (bôl)

n.

1.

a. A spherical object or entity: a steel ball.

b. A spherical or almost spherical body: a ball of flame.

2. Sports

a. Any of various rounded, movable objects used in various athletic activities and games.

b. Such an object moving, thrown, hit, or kicked in a particular manner: a low ball; a fair ball.

c. A game, especially baseball or basketball, played with such an object.

d. A pitched baseball that does not pass through the strike zone and is not swung at by the batter.

3.

a. A solid spherical or pointed projectile, such as one shot from a cannon.

b. Projectiles of this kind considered as a group.

4. A rounded part or protuberance, especially of the body: the ball of the foot.

5. balls Vulgar Slang

a. The testicles.

b. Courage, especially when reckless.

c. Great presumptuousness.

v. balled, ball·ing, balls

v.tr.

1. To form into a ball.

2. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse with.

v.intr.

1. To become formed into a ball.

2. Vulgar Slang To have sexual intercourse.

Phrasal Verb:

ball up

To confuse; bungle.

Idiom:

on the ball Informal

1. Alert, competent, or efficient: a teacher who is really on the ball.

2. Relating to qualities, such as competence, skill, or knowledge, that are necessary for success: a manager who has a lot on the ball; a student who has nothing on the ball.

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[Middle English bal, probably from Old English *beall; see bhel-² in Indo-European roots.]

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ball ²  (bôl)

n.

1. A formal gathering for social dancing.

2. Informal An extremely enjoyable time or experience: We had a ball during our vacation.

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[French bal, from Old French, from baller, to dance, from Late Latin ballre, from Greek ballizein; see g^wel- in Indo-European roots.]

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balls [bɔːlz] Slang

pl n

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Anatomy) the testicles

by the balls so as to be rendered powerless

3. nonsense; rubbish

4. courage; forcefulness

interj

an exclamation of strong disagreement, contempt, annoyance, etc

Usage: Both its anatomical senses and its various extended senses nowadays have far less impact than they used to, and seen unlikely to cause offence, though some older or more conservative people may object. Interestingly, its use in the sense of courage is exactly paralleled in the Spanish term «cojones»

Thesaurus

balls (Taboo slang)

plural noun

1. bravery, face (informal), spirit, bottle (slang), resolution, nerve, daring, courage, guts (informal), pluck, grit, backbone, fortitude, toughness, mettle, boldness, firmness, valour, spunk (informal), fearlessness, intrepidity, cojones (Spanish), hardihood, ballsiness (taboo slang), dauntlessness, lion-heartedness I never had the balls to do anything like this.

2. nonsense, stuff, bull, rubbish, shit (taboo slang), pants (slang), rot, crap (slang), garbage (informal), folly, trash, bunk (informal), bullshit (taboo slang), hot air (informal), tosh (slang, chiefly Brit.), absurdity, waffle (informal, chiefly Brit.), bollocks (Brit. taboo slang), pap, cobblers (Brit. taboo slang), bilge (informal), drivel, twaddle, tripe (informal), gibberish, guff (slang), bombast, moonshine, claptrap (informal), hogwash, hokum (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), codswallop (Brit. slang), piffle (informal), poppycock (informal), balderdash (slang), bosh (informal), senselessness, eyewash (informal), kak (S. African taboo slang), ludicrousness, fatuity, tommyrot, horsefeathers (U.S. slang), bunkum or buncombe (chiefly U.S.) What complete and utter balls!

3. (Taboo slang) testicles, bollocks or ballocks (taboo slang), testes, rocks (U.S. taboo slang), nuts (taboo slang), cobblers (Brit. taboo slang), gonads, goolies (taboo slang), family jewels (slang), cojones (Spanish), nads (U.S. taboo slang) I kneed him in the balls.

balls something up (Brit. informal) mess up, bungle, botch, cock up (Brit. slang), fuck up (offensive taboo slang), make a hash of (informal), muck up (Brit. slang), make a pig's ear of (informal) I have no intention of letting you balls it up.

Translations

balls [ˈbɔːlz] npl

(= testicles) → couilles fpl >

(= courage, guts) to have balls → avoir des couilles >

(= rubbish) → conneries fpl >
balls-up [ˈbɔːlzʌp] (British) n (= cock-up)
It was a complete balls-up → Ça a complètement merdé. >, Ça a complètement foiré. >
to make a balls-up of sth → merder avec qch >

balls [bɔːlz] (fam!) npl → coglioni mpl (fam!) (fig) (bullshit) → cazzate fpl (fam!)

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balls [bɔːlz] (fam!) npl → coglioni mpl (fam!) (fig) (bullshit) → cazzate fpl (fam!)