ball

The word “ball” means a round or roughly spherical object, especially one used in sports and games. In plain terms, a round object used in play or sport, or a formal dance event.

“Ball” is pronounced bawl (/bɔːl/ in IPA).

Here is “ball” used in a sentence: “The children kicked the ball around the garden all afternoon.”

Depending on how it is used, “ball” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “ball” comes from Middle English. From Middle English bal, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "round object," related to the word for "swell" or "inflate.".

“Ball” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Ball” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a round or roughly spherical object, especially one used in sports and games.

A sphere is a precise geometric shape in which every point on the surface is the same distance from the centre. A ball is a physical, roughly round object, which may not be perfectly spherical, as a rugby ball is oval. Sphere is a mathematical idea, while ball is the everyday object.

Different sports use very different balls. A football and basketball are large and bouncy, a tennis ball is small and felt-covered, a golf ball is hard and dimpled, and a cricket or baseball is dense and stitched. Each is shaped, sized, and weighted for the demands of its game.

A football is a familiar example, a round, inflated object kicked in play. Other everyday examples include a tennis ball, a beach ball, and a marble. Beyond sport, the word covers anything rolled into a rounded shape, such as a ball of wool or a snowball.