Dictionary

ball up en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (transitive) To crush or form into a ball shape.
   • She balled up her paper in frustration.
2. (transitive) To crush or form into a ball shape. ▸ To form melted metals into balls or lumps to roll them out of a furnace for further use.
3. (ambitransitive) To coil up into a ball.
   • He balled up his fists, ready to fight.
4. (intransitive) To become ball-shaped.
   • Be careful, or the metal will ball up.
5. (intransitive) To hunch over and pull in one's arms and legs.
   • Her son balls up in fear whenever there is a storm.
6. (slang, transitive) To ruin or botch.
   • It's the fuel pumps. Some character has balled up the lot. 1967 September 9, Kit Pedlar and Gerry Davis, The Tomb of the Cybermen episode 2, spoken by Captain Hopper:
   • "They got it all balled up the night I seen it," says Bishop. "The actors forgot their lines and a man couldn't make heads or tails of it." 1916, Ring W. Lardner, “Three Kings and a Pair”, in The Saturday Evening Post:
   • The best man balled up his speech, stammering and tripping over his words.
7. (intransitive, slang) To smoke marijuana.
   • Nah bro, I ain't tryna ball up tonight. I gotta focus on my studies.
   • Why would u want to ball up in the restaurant? Smoking and eating dont mix and its better to smoke before anyway. 2022 December 23, u/StickyIgloo, “RESTAURANTS TO BALL UP IN?”, in Reddit, r/Torontology, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2023:
   • In Toronto, we literally have balling up rules. 2022 May 15, theofficialplushh, TikTok, archived from the original on 19 May 2023:
   • stop trying to make him quit let him ball up one day hes gonna get so high hes gonna be scared to ball up 2023 September 30, u/Eletric_Degle, “I just caught my 14 year old lil bro balling up”, in Reddit, r/Torontology, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2023:
   • God I fucking hate weed. I wish I didn't start smoking!!! Shit is an addiction🤢 I'm on my 3rd day sober and I have a loss in appetite, n lower than usual temper. Ion wanna die young lol, and to all my friends don't link me to ball up. Y'all should quit too!but I'll drink tho 😭 2020 November 1, @_eLEEvated, Twitter, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2023:
   • someone give those mans snapping themselves balling up on their sc story a hug bro they're just lonely 2018 December 11, @artemnooo, Twitter, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2023:
8. (intransitive) To play basketball, especially playing well.
9. (intransitive, slang) To switch to using a stronger bowling ball.
10. (of skis) To become covered in damp snow.
11. (intransitive, of a drill) To produce a lip of debris around the drill hole.
12. (US, dated, intransitive, slang, transitive) To become confused or discombobulated; to confuse (someone).

Forms

Antonyms

ball down

Synonyms

mar · bungle · pollute · fuck up · upset · disrupt · blight · mishandle · botch · soil · bugger up · corrupt · contaminate · upset the applecart · bumble · deprave · mess up · balls up · mommick · stain · spoil · queer · turn upside down · screw up · foil · put a crimp in · sour · undo · ruin · disturb · vitiate · jack up · crab · ball up

Translations (8)

es apelotonar (to crush into a ball) · es aovillarse (to become ball-shaped) · it appallottolare (to crush into a ball) · ota یوماقلانمق (to become ball-shaped) · ms kepal (to crush into a ball) · ms remuk (to crush into a ball) · ms kerumuk (to crush into a ball) · es ovillarse (to hunch over and pull in one's limbs)