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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

carry the ball en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To lead in terms of responsibility, initiative, or progress.
    • What is perhaps embarrassing to gay men is that women are making honest, gritty statements — carrying the balls, as it were — and producing very interesting gay writing, gay music, gay films, gay politics as (gulp) Lesbians. 1985 August 17, Vincent F. Luti, “Ignore the Twaddle, Give, Give, Give”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 6, page 4:
    • A gay man in Fitzwilliam, NH, singlehandedly organized a group called Monadnock Area Gays, which provided weekly socials, but when he moved some 25 miles to the northwest, there was no one left behind to carry the ball. 1979 February 10, Allen Young, “Living In The Country”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 28, page 8:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
carries the ball Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
carrying the ball Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
carried the ball Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
carried the ball Tense=Past lexicographic

Relateds

ball carrier