ball game

noun

variants or ballgame

ˈbȯl-ˌgām 

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

… 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

especially, US : a baseball game

… Lyons was thrown out trying to steal third to end the ball game …

—Mark Starr

2

informal

a

: a set of circumstances : situation

Driving in Britain is a different ball game.

—Robert Lacville

… once that blaze surged across the river, it would be a whole new ball game.

—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

Synonyms

• battle
• combat
• competition
• conflict
• confrontation
• contention
• contest
• dogfight
• duel
• face-off
• grapple
• match
• rivalry
• strife
• struggle
• sweepstakes
• sweep-stake
• tug-of-war
• war
• warfare

Examples 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

Hailee Steinfeld and Josh Allen may have started dating around the same time as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, but their relationship is a completely different ball game. —Glamour, 27 Jan. 2025

Curating a collection of inspiration photos is fun, but turning the vision board into reality is a different ball game. —Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Jan. 2025

The evolution of digital technology has made landlord-tenant communication a completely different ball game. —Nathan Miller, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025

As one of the city’s preeminent photographers, his connections could help explain the eye-opening access to circuses and ball games; and to the likes of Tom Pendergast, City Manager Henry McElroy, Governor Guy Park and the Ready-Mixed Concrete plant. —Randy Mason, Kansas City Star, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined at sense 1