balls

/ bɔːlz /

plural noun

1. the testicles

2. so as to be rendered powerless

3. nonsense; rubbish

4. courage; forcefulness

interjection

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

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

Picture eating perfectly fried chicken nuggets topped with a bump of caviar as tennis balls whizz from one side of the court to the other.

Read more on Salon

Head, who usually comes in at five but opens in white-ball cricket, seized the opportunity with all guns blazing, slamming an incredible 123 from just 83 balls to drive Australia to victory.

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The choice of balls they used was telling, with Cummins steaming in with a pink ball and Hazlewood more reserved with a red one.

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But thankfully, no raining ping-pong balls made an appearance.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Archaeologists have recovered thousands of clay-fired cooking balls and materials brought from faraway regions, such as quartz crystal from Arkansas, soapstone from the Atlanta area, and copper ornaments originating near the Great Lakes.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• arrogance 
• audacity 
• boldness 
• gall