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ball boy

noun
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Definition of ball boy

: a male attendant who retrieves balls for players or officials (as in a tennis match or a baseball or basketball game)

Examples of ball boy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The next time their teams played, the assistant called over a ball boy to deliver a CD case to the visitor’s locker room. — Andrew Greif, Los Angeles Times, "Remembering Kobe: The 1996 pre-draft workout nobody believed," 25 Jan. 2021 College freshmen were ineligible to compete then, so Hankinson was asked by Bye, who had gone to work for the Vikings, to be a ball boy for the team. — Joel Rippel, Star Tribune, "John Hankinson, former Gophers quarterback, dies at 77," 21 Nov. 2020 Diggs learned of Fitzgerald’s lore starting as far back as Minnesota, where Fitzgerald used to be a ball boy for the Vikings. — Bob Mcmanaman, The Arizona Republic, "DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs expected to lead WR fireworks show when Cardinals face Bills," 14 Nov. 2020 Owens grew up three blocks from Syracuse University and was a basketball ball boy for the Orange as a kid. — Buddy Collings, orlandosentinel.com, "Oak Ridge coach Billy Owens well prepared to trade basketball for football," 23 Sep. 2020 The ball boy down the first base line picked up Ruiz’s double, but two runs scores. — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Keegan Akin shuts down Yankees, DJ Stewart homers twice in 6-1 Orioles win," 5 Sep. 2020 Williams initially gave her smashed racket to ball boy Justin Arrington-Holmes, who sold it to a dealer in Manhattan for $500 earlier this year, according to the New York Times. — George Ramsay, CNN, "Serena Williams' smashed racket from the US Open sells for $20,910," 9 Dec. 2019 Stewart had been a ball boy for the Indiana Pacers for two years. — Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star, "Build-A-Team: Putting together the best Lawrence North basketball team," 8 Apr. 2020 Haley was a ball boy for the Steelers and attended training camps with his dad. — Doug Fernandes, USA TODAY, "Former Chiefs coach Todd Haley hired as high school offensive coordinator in Florida," 15 Feb. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ball boy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of ball boy

1903, in the meaning defined above

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Time Traveler for ball boy

Time Traveler

The first known use of ball boy was in 1903

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Statistics for ball boy

Last Updated

31 Jan 2021

Cite this Entry

“Ball boy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ball%20boy. Accessed 28 Feb. 2021.

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More Definitions for ball boy

ball boy

noun

English Language Learners Definition of ball boy

: a boy who picks up balls that go out of play during a game in tennis, baseball, etc.

See the full definition for ball boy in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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