Ball n.
 1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow.
 2. A spherical body of any substance or size used to play with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc.
 3. A general name for games in which a ball is thrown, kicked, or knocked. See Baseball, and Football.
 4. Any solid spherical, cylindrical, or conical projectile of lead or iron, to be discharged from a firearm; as, a cannon ball; a rifle ball; -- often used collectively; as, powder and ball. Spherical balls for the smaller firearms are commonly called bullets.
 5. Pyrotechnics & Mil. A flaming, roundish body shot into the air; a case filled with combustibles intended to burst and give light or set fire, or to produce smoke or stench; as, a fire ball; a stink ball.
 6. Print. A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; -- formerly used by printers for inking the form, but now superseded by the roller.
 7. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot.
 8. Far. A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus.
 9. The globe or earth.
    Move round the dark terrestrial ball.   --Addison.
 10. Baseball A pitched ball, not struck at by the batter, which fails to pass over the home plate at a height not greater than the batter's shoulder nor less than his knee (i.e. it is outside the strike zone).  If the pitcher pitches four balls before three strikes are called, the batter advances to first base, and the action of pitching four balls is called a walk.
 Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits.
 Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls.
 Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished from a blank cartridge, containing only powder.
 Ball cock, a faucet or valve which is opened or closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever.
 Ball gudgeon, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket. --Knight.
 Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock.
 Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as distinguished from its lids and socket; -- formerly, the pupil of the eye.
 Ball valve Mach., a contrivance by which a ball, placed in a circular cup with a hole in its bottom, operates as a valve.
 Ball vein Mining, a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles.
 Three balls, or Three golden balls, a pawnbroker's sign or shop.
 on the ball alert; competent and knowledgeable.
 to carry the ball to carry on the task; to assume the responsibility.
 to drop the ball to fail to perform as expected; to fail to live up to a responsibility.
 Syn: -- See Globe.


 Bear·ing n.
 1. The manner in which one bears or conducts one's self; mien; behavior; carriage.
    I know him by his bearing.   --Shak.
 2. Patient endurance; suffering without complaint.
 3. The situation of one object, with respect to another, such situation being supposed to have a connection with the object, or influence upon it, or to be influenced by it; hence, relation; connection.
 But of this frame, the bearings and the ties,
 The strong connections, nice dependencies.   --Pope.
 4. Purport; meaning; intended significance; aspect.
 5. The act, power, or time of producing or giving birth; as, a tree in full bearing; a tree past bearing.
    [His mother] in travail of his bearing.   --R. of Gloucester.
 6. Arch. (a) That part of any member of a building which rests upon its supports; as, a lintel or beam may have four inches of bearing upon the wall. (b) The portion of a support on which anything rests. (c) Improperly, the unsupported span; as, the beam has twenty feet of bearing between its supports.
 7. Mach. (a) The part of an axle or shaft in contact with its support, collar, or boxing; the journal. (b) The part of the support on which a journal rests and rotates.
 8. Her. Any single emblem or charge in an escutcheon or coat of arms -- commonly in the pl.
    A carriage covered with armorial bearings.   --Thackeray.
 9. Naut. (a) The situation of a distant object, with regard to a ship's position, as on the bow, on the lee quarter, etc.; the direction or point of the compass in which an object is seen; as, the bearing of the cape was W. N. W. (b) pl. The widest part of a vessel below the plank-sheer. (c) pl. The line of flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or ballast.
 Ball bearings. See under Ball.
 To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his senses.
 To lose one's bearings, to become bewildered.
 To take bearings, to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the relation of one object or place to another; to ascertain one's position by reference to landmarks or to the compass; hence (Fig.), to ascertain the condition of things when one is in trouble or perplexity.
 Syn: -- Deportment; gesture; mien; behavior; manner; carriage; demeanor; port; conduct; direction; relation; tendency; influence.

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