| ball | 1. Any round or roundish body or mass; a sphere or globe; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow. 2. A spherical body of any substance or size used to play with, as by throwing, knocking, kicking, etc. 3. A general name for games in which a ball is thrown, kicked, or knocked. See Baseball, and Football. 4. Any solid spherical, cylindrical, or conical projectile of lead or iron, to be discharged from a firearm; as, a cannon ball; a rife ball; often used collectively; as, powder and ball. Spherical balls for the smaller firearms are commonly called bullets. 5. A flaming, roundish body shot into the air; a case filled with combustibles intended to burst and give light or set fire, or to produce smoke or stench; as, a fire ball; a stink ball. 6. A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, but now superseded by the roller. 7. A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body; as, the ball of the thumb; the ball of the foot. 8. <veterinary> A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses; a bolus. 9. The globe or earth. "Move round the dark terrestrial ball." (Addison) Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits. Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose metal balls. Ball cartridge, a cartridge containing a ball, as distinguished from a blank cartridge, containing only powder. Ball cock, a faucet or valve which is opened or closed by the fall or rise of a ball floating in water at the end of a lever. Ball gudgeon, a pivot of a spherical form, which permits lateral deflection of the arbor or shaft, while retaining the pivot in its socket. Knight. Ball lever, the lever used in a ball cock. Ball of the eye, the eye itself, as distinguished from its lids and socket; formerly, the pupil of the eye. Ball valve, a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses of a globular form, containing sparkling particles. Three balls, or Three golden balls, a pawnbroker's sign or shop. Synonym: See Globe. Origin: OE. Bal, balle; akin to OHG. Balla, palla, G. Ball, Icel. Bollr, ball; cf. F. Balle. Cf. 1st Bale, Pallmall. 1. <chemistry> To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling. 2. To form or wind into a ball; as, to ball cotton. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| ball of the foot | The padded portion of the sole, at the anterior extremity of the heads of the metatarsals, upon which the weight rests when the heel is raised. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball thrombus | An antemortem thrombus found in the left or right atrium usually in certain cases of mitral stenosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball valve | Any of a variety of prosthetic cardiac valve's comprised of a ball within a retaining cage affixed to the orifice; when appropriately sized, used in aortic, mitral, or tricuspid position. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball valve action | The intermittent blockage of a tube or outlet of a cavity by some object or material that permits passage in one direction but not in the other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball variance | Swelling and changes in shape and consistency of the ball in a ball-valve prosthesis, especially in one replacing the aortic valve. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ball's operation | Division of the sensory nerve trunks supplying the anus, for relief of pruritus ani. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ball, Sir Charles | <person> Irish surgeon, 1851-1916. See: Ball's operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball-and-socket joint | A multiaxial synovial joint in which a more or less extensive sphere on the head of one bone fits into a rounded cavity in the other bone, as in the hip joint. Synonym: articulatio spheroidea, articulatio cotylica, cotyloid joint, enarthrodial joint, enarthrosis, socket joint, spheroid articulation, spheroid joint. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ball-valve thrombus | Ball thrombus intermittently occluding the mitral or tricuspid orifice. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballad | A popular kind of narrative poem, adapted for recitation or singing; as, the ballad of Chevy Chase; especially, a sentimental or romantic poem in short stanzas. Origin: OE. Balade, OF. Balade, F. Ballade, fr. Pr. Ballada a dancing song, fr. Ballare to dance; cf. It. Ballata. See Ball, and Ballet. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Ballance's sign | <clinical sign> The presence of a dull percussion note in both flanks, constant on the left side but shifting with change of position on the right, said to indicate ruptured spleen; the dullness is due to the presence of blood, fluid on the right side but coagulated on the left. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Ballance, Sir Charles | <person> English surgeon, 1856-1936. See: Ballance's sign, Koerte-Ballance operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ballast | 1. To steady, as a vessel, by putting heavy substances in the hold. 2. To fill in, as the bed of a railroad, with gravel, stone, etc, in order to make it firm and solid. 3. To keep steady; to steady, morally. "'T is charity must ballast the heart." (Hammond) Origin: Ballasted; Ballasting. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| ballerina-foot pattern | A vigorous posteromedial contraction of the left ventricle coupled with convexity anteriorly sometimes resulting from poor contraction of the opposing anterior wall; it is the most frequent dyssynergy observed in the prolapsed mitral valve leaflet syndrome (even with a normal anterior wall) and produces a configuration of angiographic dye in the right anterior oblique projection resembling a ballerina's foot; sometimes called dancer's foot malformation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| chondrin ball | One of the globular masses formed by a group of cells enclosed in a capsule, in hyaline cartilage. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| wool ball | A trichophytobezoar formed chiefly of wool and vegetable matter in the stomach of sheep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| hair ball | A hair cast in the stomach or intestinal tract, common in cats. Synonym: hair ball, pilobezoar. Origin: tricho-+ bezoar (05 Mar 2000) |
| dust ball | A mass sometimes found in the stomach or intestine of an animal fed on mill cleanings. (05 Mar 2000) |
| food ball | A gastric concretion formed of vegetable fibres, with the seeds and skins of fruits, and sometimes starch granules and fat globules. Synonym: food ball. Origin: phyto-+ bezoar (05 Mar 2000) |
| fungus ball | A compact mass of fungal mycelium and cellular debris, 1 to 5 cm in diameter, residing within a lung cavity; such cavities may be produced by bacterial as well as mycotic infectious agents, but they are usually produced by Aspergillus fumigatus or, more rarely, by A. Niger. See: aspergilloma. (05 Mar 2000) |