ball boy
Americannoun
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Tennis. an attendant, usually a boy or young man, employed to retrieve balls and supply players with them.
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Baseball. an attendant, usually a boy or young man, who retrieves foul balls and brings the umpire new balls during the game.
noun
Etymology
Origin of ball boy
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
Yoganathan was a ball boy at Anfield in 2018 when Divock Origi scored an injury-time winner against Everton in the Premier League, and "loved watching" Philippe Coutinho when he was in the club's academy.
From BBC • Jan. 12, 2026
"Of course, Barcelona, the impact in my life as a ball boy, football player, manager and so on, is obvious, and of course, Bayern was an incredible step as well," said Guardiola.
From Barron's • Nov. 7, 2025
Brady Smigiel used to be the ball boy when Cam Rising was playing quarterback for Newbury Park and running around.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025
The ball boy was future NFL quarterback Jimmy Clausen.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2024
They need not however, be the ones given here,—for "b" it may be "baby," "ball," "boy," or "box," but let it be a word familiar to the class and easily remembered.
From How to Teach Phonics by Williams, Lida M.
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.
