carry the ball

Idioms

Take charge, advance a cause, as in In our lab any of the assistants can carry the ball. This usage comes from such sports as football, where the ball-carrying player gives the team yardage or a touchdown. By the early 1900s it was being transferred to other endeavors.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

carry the ball

But it was Bellingham's technical skills that really caught the scout's attention - his ability to carry the ball away from pressure and find space by getting between the lines or pulling wide.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

“I might have to carry the ball some,” Riley quipped during NBC’s broadcast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025

He has the power and strength to carry the ball forward.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025

He’s able to carry the ball 29, 28, 27 times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2024

Since Dad went to church only if one of us was being christened—in other words, about once a year—Mother had to carry the ball when it came to enrolling us in Sunday school.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023