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Synonyms

balls

British  
/ bɔːlz /

plural noun

  1. the testicles

  2. so as to be rendered powerless

  3. nonsense; rubbish

  4. courage; forcefulness

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

interjection

  1. an exclamation of strong disagreement, contempt, annoyance, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Balls fly in warm weather at Dodger Stadium.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2025

Dennie is the deputy editor of Balls and Strikes and the author of The Originalism Trap.

From Slate • Aug. 15, 2025

Mark Joseph Stern discussed this cowardly surrender to a brazenly unlawful threat and its dark ramifications for academic freedom with Balls and Strikes’ Jay Willis on this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode of Amicus.

From Slate • Jul. 26, 2025

Balls used in the series between England and India will be examined by the manufacturer after the first three Tests were blighted by problems.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2025

Balls as big as grapefruits hung from each branch—plastic ones, because last Christmas Mr. Vendleri had seen what Doug Swieteck’s brother did to glass ones.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

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.