ball game

noun

variants or ballgame

ˈbȯl-ˌgām 

plural ball games or ballgames

1

: a game played with a ball

We have to take care of the basketball. If you don't have the basketball it's hard to win a ball game.

—LaToya Bennett, quoted in The Huntsville (Texas) Item

… returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half of the football game to help Georgia earn their first points of the ball game.

—Jonathan Williams

especially, US : a baseball game

… Lyons was thrown out trying to steal third to end the ball game …

—Mark Starr

2

informal

a

: a set of circumstances : situation

Driving in Britain is a different ball game.

—Robert Lacville

… once that blaze surged across the river, it would be a whole new ball game.

—Jeffrey J. Smith

b

: contest sense 1

… on Mar. 17, the candidates must stagger to high-stakes caucuses in Michigan, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Kentucky. The ball game could be over by Mar. 20 …

—Businessweek

Synonyms of ball game

• rivalry
• battle
• struggle
• competition
• duel
• warfare
• contention
• match
• confrontation
• war
• conflict

Examples of ball game in a Sentence

He was popular because he was good at ball games.

Dad took us to a ball game.

watching a ball game on TV

Recent Examples on the Web

While the Athletics hosted the Angels in Sacramento, their Single-A affiliate minor league team, Stockton Ports, hosted lots of dads who were excited to take their kids, young and grown, out to the ball game. —Charlie Lapastora, CBS News, 22 June 2026

And before the perpetually whiny and moronic peanut gallery says that sports teams have special nights all the time, that’s true, but celebrating heritage, or veterans who fought and died for this country is just an eency weency bit different than force-feeding the gay agenda at a ball game! —Tomi Lahren Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026

Stop by the visitor center to check out volleyballs, basketballs, Frisbees, cornhole sets, baseballs and bats, or ladder ball games. —Taryn Shorr-McKee, Midwest Living, 4 June 2026

In addition to the 100-plus food vendors, there are also retail vendors, bungee jumping trampolines and giant inflatable water ball games. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ball game

• acclaim
• aflame
• airframe
• ballgame
• became
• declaim
• defame
• disclaim
• doorframe
• exclaim
• inflame
• mainframe