- present tense form of ball (3rd person singular).
balls
Britishplural noun
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the testicles
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so as to be rendered powerless
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nonsense; rubbish
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courage; forcefulness
interjection
Usage
Both its anatomical senses and its various extended senses nowadays have far less impact than they used to, and seem 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»
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Madiba Dennie, deputy editor and senior contributor at Balls and Strikes, joined Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick on this episode of Amicus to discuss the relationship between the two cases and the arguments that were on display.
From Slate • May 4, 2026
On this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode of Amicus, co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discussed Tuesday’s vote with Madiba Dennie, deputy editor of Balls and Strikes and author of The Originalism Trap.
From Slate • Apr. 24, 2026
"It's been the nature of the tournament where teams have struggled at the top," Healy told BBC's No Balls podcast.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
"As it so happened, our appraisals were about 10 days after that series," Cross told former England team-mate Alex Hartley on their No Balls podcast.
From BBC • Sep. 23, 2025
Balls were returned to the racks, and the hopeful players sprinted to line up in front of Coach Murphy and Coach Orrick.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
