to ball up
1
7.9
- phrasal verb
- /bɔl ʌp/
- Informal
:
estropear
Examples
-
I have balled up big time!
Blog text (18) -
Obviously a computer hair-balled up a decimal point in the wrong place.
-
If it doesn't ball up like a huge snowball, you aren't using enough.
Blog text (9) -
I balled up my fist and apologized to myself for what I was about to do.
Blog text (12) -
During the project, I accidentally balled up my report instead of organizing it.
-
If you ball up the instructions, no one will know how to assemble the furniture.
-
She tends to ball up her assignments, making it difficult for the teacher to read them.
Synonyms
∞
4.2
To handle something in a way that causes damage or problems
641
6.3
To make a mistake that ruins what you are doing
597
2.8
To make a mistake that causes a problem
265
5.3
To waste a lot of money on things you do not need
203
9.9
To make a serious mistake that ruins something
80
2.8
To make something less good or enjoyable
65
2.7
To make people confused and things messy
63
6.0
To do something badly and spoil the result
37
9.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
20
4.9
Deal with something badly so it causes problems or damage
19
3.5
To do something clumsily and make a mistake
16
6.8
To do something clumsily so it causes mistakes
8
6.4
To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless
5
8.2
To fail to catch or handle something because you are clumsy
5
7.6
To ruin something by making mistakes or doing it badly
4
8.1
To make a mess of a plan or task by doing it badly
2
6.8
To make an embarrassing mistake because you are careless or nervous
2
5.4
To make a mistake especially by forgetting words on stage
2
6.7
Do a job badly and make a mess of it
1
2.1
Make a place messy so things are not in order
1
9.9
To pass poo or, in slang, to fail and make a mess of something
1
9.9
To cause a lot of damage and chaos to a place or thing
1
9.9
To do something so badly that it fails
1
9.9
To ruin something by making a mistake or being careless
Do a job badly so it does not work
To ruin something completely by making serious mistakes
To spoil or ruin something by making a careless mistake
To ruin something by doing it badly
To ruin something by a careless mistake
To do something badly so it goes wrong
To do something badly and make it fail
Antonyms
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
ball + up
Knowing 'ball' (to form into a round shape) and the particle 'up' (completion/intensification) makes it plausible for a learner to infer a literal sense like 'crumple into a ball' (e.g., ball up paper), so some examples are somewhat transparent. However, the broader idiomatic use 'to make a mess of; to bungle' is a metaphorical extension not fully predictable from the constituents across contexts, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not reliably infer the general meaning.
Etymology
Ball up comes from the image of crumpling paper or cloth into a tight ball and gathering it up into a small, messy lump. So it now means 'to make a mess of something' or 'to ruin'.