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

The ball courts in this study were used for several ball games, including pok-a-tok. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 26 Dec. 2024

In comparison, Goldschmidt posted a 120 OPS+ over 154 ball games for the 2023 season. —Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024

Assembling a phone’s components and making those components are different ball games. —Andrew Williams, WIRED, 7 Dec. 2024

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, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined at sense 1