ball game
58
1.0
- noun
- /bɔl ɡeɪm/
:
deporte de balón
- " How about we quit and watch the ball game?" he suggested.
- play ball games
- ball games like basketball
- bat and ball games
And hanging with the fellas, betting on the ball game.
- And hanging with the fellas, betting on the ball game.
- Looks like someone took him out at the ball game.
- I need to buy them some tickets to the ball game, take them to dinner, maybe go fishing with them.
- However, it's going to be a fucking ball game at night in Ann Arbor and that scares the shit out of me.
Examples
-
Taylor under it, and this ball game is over...
-
Now we'd go to ball games, play computer stuff, and watch TV together again.
Fiction book (1998) -
We're gonna have a good ball game, whatever you think.
-
This could be the ball game right here.
-
We never played catch or went to ball games.
-
On my way to the ball game.
-
No, I was just watching a ball game.
-
Jack and I had a great time at the ball game, didn't we, Jack?
Fiction book (1998) -
Patrick doesn't know when or if he'll ever go to a ball game at Pac Bell Park again.
Fiction book (2002) -
My father used to take me to ball games when I was a kid.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
One part of a match in sports, played to win points
∞
1.0
A physical activity like football or tennis played for fun and competition
∞
1.0
A team game where two teams try to get the ball into the other goal by kicking or carrying it
462
6.3
The game of baseball often played for fun
121
1.0
A match where two teams try to score points by moving a ball into the other team's goal
62
1.0
A game between two teams where players hit a ball with a bat and run bases
23
2.0
A game played with a ball, like baseball or soccer
15
1.6
A game like baseball where players use their feet to move a rubber ball to score runs
9
4.7
A version of baseball played with a hard ball rather than softball
7
7.4
A street game like baseball played with a broomstick and a rubber ball
1
2.5
A match where two teams take turns to hit a ball and score runs
1
7.2
A team sport played on ice like hockey using brooms and a ball
1
4.2
A sport played with flat paddles to hit a small rubber ball against a wall or over a net
1
3.0
A game people play on a marked court like tennis or basketball
A game where two teams try to push a very large ball into the other team's goal
A sport or contest that involves physical activity and skill
A casual word for any ball game used when someone is not interested
How Competitive
617
2.5
16
3.5
567
2.4
58
1.0
7
2.8
1
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a game played with a ball' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'ball' (a round play object) with 'game' (a sporting contest); it follows a straightforward English noun–noun compounding pattern. This composition is cross-linguistically common and involves no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Ball game comes from a simple picture: people meeting to play a ball in a game, by kicking, throwing, or hitting it. That's why it now means 'a game played with a ball', like baseball or football.