ball game

See also: ballgame

English

Alternative forms

• ballgame

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːl ˌɡeɪm/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

ball game (plural ball games)

1. Any game played with a ball.

   Basketball, cricket, and football are three kinds of ball game.

2. A specific contest or match between teams playing such a game, in particular a baseball game.

   George and Harriet went to the stadium to see the ball game.

3. (historical) A sport played in the Aztec and Mayan civilizations; Mesoamerican ballgame.

   The ball game was the main sport in Central America before the arrival of the Spanish.

4. (figurative) Affair, issue, matter, subject, story, topic.
   • 1983, Joseph Stinson, Sudden Impact (motion picture), spoken by Captain Briggs (Bradford Dillman):

     Think things over, Callahan. Get with it. It's a whole new ball game these days.

5. (figurative, slang) A decisive outcome in regard to some ongoing situation; game over.

   If a U.S. presidential candidate receives 270 electoral votes, that's the ball game.

Translations

game played with a ball

• Albanian: lojës topin
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: топката игра f (topkata igra)
• Catalan: esport de pilota (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 球類運動／球类运动 (qiúlèi yùndòng)

• Czech: míčová hra f
• Danish: boldspil (da) n
• Dutch: balspel (nl) n
• Finnish: pallopeli (fi), palloilulaji (fi)
• French: jeu de ballon m
• Galician: xogo de pelota
• German: Ballspiel (de) n
• Greek: παιχνίδι μπάλα n (paichnídi bála)
• Hungarian: labdajáték (hu)
• Icelandic: boltaíþrótt f, knattleikur m
• Indonesian: permainan bola
• Japanese: 球技 (ja) (kyūgi)
• Lushootseed: ʔupups
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ballspill n

  Nynorsk: ballspel n

• Portuguese: jogo de bola m
• Romanian: joc cu mingea n
• Russian: игра́ с мячо́м f (igrá s mjačóm)
• Serbo-Croatian: lopta igra
• Spanish: juego de pelota m
• Swedish: bollspel (sv) n
• Volapük: glöpäd (vo)

specific match

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 球賽／球赛 (zh) (qiúsài)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: peli (fi); ottelu (fi), matsi (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: jogo de bola m
• Russian: матч (ru) m (matč), игра́ (ru) f (igrá)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Mesoamerican ballgame

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中美洲蹴球 (Zhōngměizhōu cùqiú)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: pallopeli (fi)
• French: jeu de balle m
• Portuguese: jogo de bola m
• Russian: тла́чтли (tláčtli)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

affair, issue

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 事情 (zh) (shìqing), 事 (zh) (shì)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: juttu (fi), asia (fi)
• French: sujet (fr) m, question (fr) f, problème (fr) m
• Portuguese: parada (pt) (Brazil)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Anagrams

• Gemballa, game ball, gameball