ball game
or ball·game
- any game played with a ball, especially baseball or softball.
- Informal. a situation and all its attendant circumstances: Having a new administration in power changes the entire ball game at city hall.Compare new ball game.
- Archaeology. a ceremonial game of both ritual and sporting significance, played by teams on a ball court in Mesoamerican cultures from the Preclassic period to the Spanish conquest.
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Origin of ball game
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ball game
Historical Examples
He might have been speaking of any commonplace—a ball-game, or a good show.
At a ball-game the sight of a man slumbering on the benches is inconceivable.
Ranching, Sport and TravelThomas Carson
It's the fresh guy who made the cheap talk at the ball-game.
Jim Spurling, FishermanAlbert Walter Tolman
Ball-game of the women, ma-úhtape (e distinctly pronounced; the whole run together).
"I am afraid he won't go to the ball-game; that will be too bad," said Carl.
The Story of the Big Front DoorMary Finley Leonard
ball game
- any game played with a ball
- US and Canadian a game of baseball
- informal a situation; state of affairs (esp in the phrase a whole new ball game)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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