no ball

nounCricket.

an unfairly bowled ball.

Origin of no ball

First recorded in 1740–50

Words Nearby no ball

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

How to use no ball in a sentence

I suppose I must have explained a stymie or a no-ball very cleverly once.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 147, August 12, 1914 | Various
“Sixty up,” said Ellerby, in the pavilion, as the umpire signalled another no-ball.
Mike | P. G. Wodehouse
The batsman may be “run out” in attempting a run off a “no-ball,” but cannot be put out off it in any other way.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 | Various
Why not make it a no-ball every time unless the bowler has both feet in the air at the moment when the ball leaves his hand?
Punch, or the London Charivari, July 1, 1914 | Various
If we are to be in the swim we shall have to reconsider our no-ball rule.
Punch, or the London Charivari, July 1, 1914 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for no-ball

no-ball

noun

cricket an illegal ball, as for overstepping the crease, throwing, etc, for which the batting side scores a run, and from which the batsman can be out only by being run out
rounders an illegal ball, esp one bowled too high or too low

sentence substitute

cricket rounders a call by the umpire indicating a no-ball

verb

(tr) cricket (of an umpire)
- to declare (a bowler) to have bowled a no-ball
- to declare (a delivery) to be a no-ball

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

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