ball game

or ball·game

SEE SYNONYMS FOR ball game ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Words nearby ball game

ball club, ball cock, ball control, ball fern, ball foot, ball game, ball girl, ball handling, ball hawk, ball hockey, ball ice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for ball game

The boys in the yard stopped their ball-game, and the girls huddled close in whispering groups and drew near to the door.
A Voice in the Wilderness|Grace Livingston Hill
At a ball-game the sight of a man slumbering on the benches is inconceivable.
Ranching, Sport and Travel|Thomas Carson
It's the fresh guy who made the cheap talk at the ball-game.
Jim Spurling, Fisherman|Albert Walter Tolman
On a holiday celebration the address attracts more Scandinavians, the ball-game or the fireworks, more natives.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross

Those who were about equal in the ball-game were matched together, and generally they had much fun in the autumn.
Grettir The Strong|Unknown

British Dictionary definitions for ball game

ball game

noun

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)

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