1
as in sphere
a more or less round body or mass
the little rubber ball used in racquetball a ball of string
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bullet
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
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of ball
Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
Former college athletes from places like Wingate and South Carolina mingled easily with people who’d never kicked a ball before.
—Evan Moore
november 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 Nov. 2025
Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
Her brother cannon-balled off a rock to join her.
—Brianna Randall, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ball
Noun
All of this is to say that while the White House publicly maintains its displeasure with the Supreme Court for signaling its unlikelihood to let the tariffs stand, there’s a chance that the court’s refusal to play ball could prove a blessing in disguise.
—Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 7 Nov. 2025
Former college athletes from places like Wingate and South Carolina mingled easily with people who’d never kicked a ball before.
—Evan Moore
november 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 Nov. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, fire victims often complain that insurers and their adjusters are low-balling settlement offers.
—Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 Sep. 2025
Her brother cannon-balled off a rock to join her.
—Brianna Randall, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ball
Verb
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The major hubs of O'Hare, Atlanta, Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth rounded out the top five airports for cancellations, but those airports only lost around 3% of their flights.—
JOSH FUNK,
Arkansas Online,
8 Nov. 2025
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The cast is rounded out by Ronnie Gene Blevins (Emancipation) and Jeremy Luke (Mob Cops).—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Palantir said last week that home improvement retailer Lowe’s was already incorporating this into its tech stack, but the software company declined on Monday to share other companies that had rolled that out.—
Jessica Mathews,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
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Assuming some children wimped out after the first drink, this statistic suggests that large numbers of Jacksonian-era adults were rolling eight belts deep seven days a week, with all the attendant implications for social and political life.—
Dan Brooks,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ball. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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