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ball game

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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ball game in a sentence

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with ball game

ballgame

see whole new ballgame.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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