ball game
noun
variants
or ballgame
plural ball games or ballgames
1
: a game played with a ball
We have to take care of the basketball. If you don't have the basketball it's hard to win a ball game.—
LaToya Bennett, quoted in The Huntsville (Texas) Item
LaToya Bennett, quoted in The Huntsville (Texas) Item… returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half of the football game to help Georgia earn their first points of the ball game.—Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams
especially, US
: a baseball game
… Lyons was thrown out trying to steal third to end the ball game … —Mark Starr
Mark Starr 2
informal
a
: a set of circumstances : situation
Driving in Britain is a different ball game.—Robert Lacville
Robert Lacville… once that blaze surged across the river, it would be a whole new ball game.—Jeffrey J. Smith
Jeffrey J. Smith
b
: contest sense 1
… on Mar. 17, the candidates must stagger to high-stakes caucuses in Michigan, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Kentucky. The ball game could be over by Mar. 20 …—Business Week
Business WeekExamples of ball game in a Sentence
He was popular because he was good at ball games.
Dad took us to a ball game.
watching a ball game on TV
Recent Examples on the Web
The same could be said for Dodgers’ fans watching the ball games from Cosm Los Angeles, the Japanese city of Ōshū and the Shibuya ward in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
—Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Known as a fierce competitor, Butler is a two-way player willing to sacrifice points to win ball games.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
One of the real big basket ball games of the season will be staged here next Saturday evening, when the famous Denver, Colo., Tigers, play our champion American Legion Basket shooters at the Opera House.
—Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
The mass-participation ball game involves two teams, whose players are decided according to which side of the town's small brook they were born on.
—Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ball game
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Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., Forbes.com, 28 Mar. 2025
Known as a fierce competitor, Butler is a two-way player willing to sacrifice points to win ball games.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
One of the real big basket ball games of the season will be staged here next Saturday evening, when the famous Denver, Colo., Tigers, play our champion American Legion Basket shooters at the Opera House.
—Contributed Content, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
The mass-participation ball game involves two teams, whose players are decided according to which side of the town's small brook they were born on.
—Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ball game
Cite this Entry
“Ball game.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ball%20game. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025.
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