cricket ball
- noun
- /ˈkrɪkɪt bɔl/
- UK
- Those are, uh, cricket balls.
Examples
-
The players scrambled to find the lost cricket ball in the tall grass.
-
He expertly bowled the cricket ball towards the batsman, aiming for a perfect delivery.
-
I mean, where the hell did that cricket ball come from?
Blog text (4) -
Who knows, but that cricket ball is so heavy.
Blog text (18) -
There's a solid gold boot there and a cricket ball and a ball.
-
During the match, the cricket ball was hit high into the air, soaring over the boundary line.
Synonyms
A round object used in games like football or tennis
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a hard ball used in the game of cricket' is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'cricket' (the sport) + 'ball' (a round play object), following the common noun–noun compound pattern in English. This transparent compositional logic is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The name cricket ball comes from the game's hard, leather ball used in cricket; older balls had cork inside and a stitched leather cover, and players would polish one side so it would swing in the air. So the image of that small, heavy leather ball is why the term means 'the ball used in cricket'.