Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - ball

~1 n 1 »TO PLAY WITH« a round object that is thrown, kicked, or hit in a game or sport  (Bounce the ball to me. | a tennis ball) 2 »ROUND SHAPE« something formed or rolled into a round shape  (a ball of string | Shape the dough into balls.) 3 the ball of the foot/hand/thumb the rounded part of the foot at the base of the toe, rounded part of the hand at the base of the thumb or fingers  (- see also eyeball1 (1)) 4 a fast/good/curved etc ball a ball that is thrown, hit, or kicked fast etc in a game or sport  (He hit a long ball to right field.) 5 no ball a ball that is thrown too high, low etc towards someone trying to hit it, in the games of cricket (2) or rounders (2) 6 »BASEBALL« AmE a ball thrown in baseball that a player is not expected to hit because it is not within the correct area 7 »BULLET« a round bullet fired from a type of gun that was used in the past 8 on the ball informal thinking or acting quickly  (We need an assistant who's really on the ball.) 9 set/start the ball rolling to begin an activity or event or make sure it continues  (Let's start the ball rolling with a few suggestions.) 10 the ball is in your court it is your turn to take action or to reply  (I've sent him a letter, now the ball's in his court.) 11 »DANCE« a large formal occasion at which people dance 12 have a ball informal to have a very good time  (We had a ball at the party last night.) 13 balls plural a) testicles b) taboo spoken courage or determination  (It's not going to be easy. It'll take fight. Guts. Balls.) c) BrE taboo spoken something that is stupid or wrong; nonsense  (That's a load of balls!) 14 a ball of fire someone who has a lot of energy and is active and successful 15 the whole ball of wax AmE informal the whole thing; everything 16 ball-buster/ball-breaker AmE slang a) a problem that is very difficult to deal with b) an offensive word for a woman who uses her authority over men  (- see also balls1, not play ball play1 (24)) ~2 v 1 also ball up to form something into a small round shape so that it takes up less space 2 AmE spoken taboo to have sex with a woman ball sth up phr v AmE spoken to make a situation confused or difficult to deal with  (No, we're not going now, Lindsay's managed to ball everything up.)  (- see also balls-up)