Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ball up

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.02 in modern English

Syllables: bal-l up
IPA

10

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To crush or form into a ball shape.

Transitive verb

verb

To crush or form into a ball shape.

Transitive verb

verb

To coil up into a ball.

verb

To become ball-shaped.

Intransitive verb

verb

To hunch over and pull in one's arms and legs.

Intransitive verb

verb

To ruin or botch.

Slang; Transitive verb

verb

To smoke marijuana.

Intransitive verb; Slang

verb

To play basketball, especially playing well.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"She balled up her paper in frustration."
"He balled up his fists, ready to fight."
"Be careful, or the metal will ball up."
"Her son balls up in fear whenever there is a storm."
"The best man balled up his speech, stammering and tripping over his words."
""They got it all balled up the night I seen it," says Bishop. "The actors forgot their lines and a man couldn't make heads or tails of it.""

Usage

Inflected Forms

balls up (present, singular) balling up (participle, present) balled up (participle, past) balled up (past)

Synonyms

balls up ball up blight bumble botch bugger up bungle contaminate corrupt crab deprave disrupt

Antonyms

ball down

Questions

What does ball up mean?: To crush or form into a ball shape.

How to pronounce ball up

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ball up”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ball up”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ball up” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.