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Glite Dictionary
to ball over

to ball over

8.5
To make someone feel very surprised
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : dejar boquiabierto

Examples

  • Because the small fuckers go in   and they can get the ball over   and the boys are scramblin'.

    Funny People (2009)

  • The magician's incredible performance truly blew everyone away and left the audience in awe.

  • When she revealed the final twist in the story, it really shocked everyone in the room.

  • His ability to complete the project under such tight deadlines amazed us all.

Synonyms

to shock
vsto ball over
202 2.1

To cause someone to feel sudden surprise and distress

is more about complete amazement without added distress or disbelief
to take aback
vsto ball over
39 4.2

To surprise someone so much that they do not know what to say

is more about total amazement rather than brief stunned silence
to floor
vsto ball over
15 6.6

To surprise someone so much they cannot react

is about full amazement rather than only brief inability to respond
to astonish
vsto ball over
13 3.5

To surprise someone very much

is more extreme, leaving someone completely amazed and stunned
to bowl over
vsto ball over
  • Informal
3 4.9

To make someone feel very surprised and impressed

is focused on pure astonishment not on admiration or praise

How Surprising

to stun
11 3.0
to ball over
  • Informal
8.5
to astonish
13 3.5
to surprise
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

ball over infinitive
balled over past
balled over past participle
balling over present participle
balls over third person singular

Morphology

ball + over

The meaning 'to surprise or astonish' cannot be derived from the literal constituents: 'ball' (a spherical object or unrelated senses) plus the particle 'over' do not compositionally yield 'astonish.' This form appears non-standard or possibly a confusion with the idiom 'bowled over,' so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not predict the idiomatic meaning, making it opaque.

Etymology

The verb ball over may come from the picture of a heavy ball hitting someone and knocking them over. So being knocked down became a way to say 'to surprise or amaze someone'.