balling

American  

[baw-lin] / ˈbɔ lɪn /

Also ballin’,

verb

1. Slang.  living a lavish, flashy, or extravagant lifestyle, especially spending freely while partying.

   It’s not fair that he’s out ballin’ in the club while she’s home taking care of their kids.

2. Informal.  present participle of ball, in the sense of playing basketball.

   Y’all remember those summers we spent ballin on the court shooting threes?

3. Slang: Vulgar.  present participle of ball, in the sense of having sexual intercourse.

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adjective

Slang.

1. lavish, flashy, or extravagant.

   He really doesn’t have the kind of money to keep up this balling lifestyle.

Etymology

Origin of balling

First recorded in 1660–70; ball ² ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ); 1990–95 balling for def. 2, ball ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ); 1960–65 balling for def. 3, ball ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

We had no problem balling all day, only stopping to eat.

From Salon

Body camera footage from the police, the papers say, showed her balling up a fist and punching an officer just eight minutes later.

From New York Times

The way, of course, was Geno Smith balling out like he has all season.

From Seattle Times

“Can we talk about how we balling on defense?”

From Washington Post

“Taylor made one mistake, but everything before that he was balling,” Thomas said.

From Washington Times