1
as in spheres
a more or less round body or mass
the little rubber ball used in racquetball a ball of string
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bullets
a usually round or cone-shaped little piece of lead made to be fired from a firearm
found a cache of musket balls while excavating the old fort
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in dances
a social gathering for dancing
a ball to celebrate the inauguration
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of balls
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Pierson has also donated hundreds of tennis balls to local animal shelters in Massachusetts.
—Jacob Wycoff, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
In the classic trope of stage magic, Jim lets members of the audience see the balls get placed into two boxes, mixed up, and given to Alice and Bob.
—Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 17 Apr. 2026
The Brewers didn’t hit any balls out of the infield in the seventh inning Thursday, but still scored the tiebreaking run by executing three consecutive bunts.
—Steve Megargee, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Those systems regulate temperature and humidity to keep balls closer to a baseline condition, often around 70 degrees and 50% humidity, helping reduce extremes in how the ball performs from game to game.
—Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2026
Singh raised his second straight half-century off just 23 balls with eight fours and a six while Iyer brought up his fifty of 31 balls and smacked Thakur four two consecutive sixes before perishing when Dhir took a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket.
—ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
The scrapping of two new balls in ODIs is expected, while a handful of boards are pushing for the revival of the 13-team ODI Super League.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
The green slopes down to the front and a back bunker catches balls hit too long.
—Bob Spear, Charlotte Observer, 13 Apr. 2025
CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026
Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
—Holly Riordan, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Mar. 2026
Each team received their shipment of logo balls several weeks ago from the Wilson factory so that equipment managers would be able to properly prepare the footballs for their respective offenses.
—Kristi Scales
jan. 5, Dallas Morning News, 5 Jan. 2026
Place balls 3 inches apart on 3 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper (about 12 cookies per sheet).
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2025
Defense overall just balls Two.
—Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Noun
Nick Pivetta’s body language evidenced frustration after two high fastballs — a staple pitch for the Padres’ ace — were called balls.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Pierson has also donated hundreds of tennis balls to local animal shelters in Massachusetts.
—Jacob Wycoff, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
In the classic trope of stage magic, Jim lets members of the audience see the balls get placed into two boxes, mixed up, and given to Alice and Bob.
—Matt Von Hippel, Quanta Magazine, 17 Apr. 2026
The Brewers didn’t hit any balls out of the infield in the seventh inning Thursday, but still scored the tiebreaking run by executing three consecutive bunts.
—Steve Megargee, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Those systems regulate temperature and humidity to keep balls closer to a baseline condition, often around 70 degrees and 50% humidity, helping reduce extremes in how the ball performs from game to game.
—Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 16 Apr. 2026
Singh raised his second straight half-century off just 23 balls with eight fours and a six while Iyer brought up his fifty of 31 balls and smacked Thakur four two consecutive sixes before perishing when Dhir took a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket.
—ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
The scrapping of two new balls in ODIs is expected, while a handful of boards are pushing for the revival of the 13-team ODI Super League.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
The green slopes down to the front and a back bunker catches balls hit too long.
—Bob Spear, Charlotte Observer, 13 Apr. 2025
Verb
The second and third outs were called third strikes, both of them initially balls before All-Star catcher Realmuto challenged through the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS), or so called robot umpires, that will be used in the regular season for the first time this year.
—CBS News, 6 Mar. 2026
Arrange dough balls 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
—Holly Riordan, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Mar. 2026
Each team received their shipment of logo balls several weeks ago from the Wilson factory so that equipment managers would be able to properly prepare the footballs for their respective offenses.
—Kristi Scales
jan. 5, Dallas Morning News, 5 Jan. 2026
Place balls 3 inches apart on 3 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper (about 12 cookies per sheet).
—Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 27 Nov. 2025
Defense overall just balls Two.
—Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balls
Verb
-
Waits rounds out the cast as an alien named Eyera.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Golshifteh Farahani rounds out the cast for the project that has a script from David Weil.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The finished structure had a contact angle of 153°, meaning water simply rolls off.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Like its opponent, Denver rolls with an intrepid freshman goalie.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Balls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balls. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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