| ball and chain |
a heavy ball attached by a chain to a prisoner's ankle to prevent escape. |
| ball bearing |
a bearing composed of a track containing freely rolling metal balls, against which or within which a shaft or other part can rotate without friction. [2 definitions] |
| ball boy |
a boy or young man who retrieves stray balls during a tennis or baseball game, or who has charge of balls used in practice, as in football and basketball. |
| ball cock |
a device used to regulate the supply of water in a tank or toilet, consisting of a lever connected to a floating ball that shuts a valve when raised and opens it when lowered. |
| ball girl |
a girl or young woman who retrieves stray balls during a tennis or baseball game, or who has charge of balls used in practice, as in field hockey or volleyball. |
| ball handler |
a player, esp. in basketball, whose position requires him or her to touch and control the ball, or one who handles the ball on a particular play. [2 definitions] |
| ball handling |
the act or skill of dribbling, passing, or receiving the ball in basketball. [2 definitions] |
| ball joint |
a mechanical joint, often found in tools and machines, in which the ball-shaped end of a rod or pipe is fitted into a hollow socket, enabling the inserted part to rotate freely in any direction. |
| ball lightning |
a rare form of lightning manifested in the form of a glowing reddish ball, approximately six inches to a foot in diameter, that moves rapidly along the ground or in the air until it disintegrates. |
| ball-and-socket joint |
a skeletal joint in which the ball-shaped end of a bone, often part of a limb, fits into and rotates quite freely within the hollow, spherical socket of another bone. [2 definitions] |
| ballpark |
an enclosed piece of land, with or without a roof, having stands for spectators and a playing field for ball games, esp. baseball. [2 definitions] |
| beach ball |
a large inflatable ball of brightly colored plastic, usu. used for games played in or near the water. |
| best-ball |
of or designating a system of scoring in golf competition in which, on each hole, the lower score of either partner is recorded as the score for that team. |
| camphor ball |
a small mass of solid chemicals, including naphthalene or camphor, used to repel moths; mothball. |
| cannonball |
a round iron or steel projectile to be fired by a cannon. [4 definitions] |
| crystal ball |
a globe of glass or quartz crystal used by fortune-tellers to foretell events in the future. |
| cue ball |
the solid white ball set in motion by the cue in pool and billiards. |
| curve ball |
a baseball pitch in which the ball curves toward the opposite side from which it was thrown. [2 definitions] |
| eight ball |
a black ball with the number eight on it used in playing pool. [2 definitions] |
| fair ball |
a batted baseball that stays within the foul lines if airborne or, if it hits the ground before the outfield, that stays within the foul lines until it has gone beyond first or third base. |