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

Raleigh gave Ethan and Aiden signed balls and presented their father with a bat, on which Big Dumper had written, “Glenn, thanks for being a a good guy & nice catch.”

From Los Angeles Times

The signature challenge asked bakers to make a batch of monkey bread, a sticky pull-apart bread made from balls of dough layered and baked in a Bundt pan.

From Salon

After Ireland took a pair of wickets in the powerplay, Cox's 55 set the platform for victory, which was sealed by Tom Banton with 17 balls remaining.

From BBC

But instead of navigating society balls and dowries, Pickett's modern Emma is poking her nose into her friends' online dating profiles, having returned home after failing her exams at Oxford University.

From BBC

But by that point, he had issued eight total walks over his last four outings, recording only eight outs in that span while throwing 50 balls to 45 strikes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• arrogance 
• audacity 
• boldness 
• gall