Ball or Ball-vein or Ball and socket joint1, n.
n. [Fr. balle, Pr. & Sp. bala, It. balla, palla, O. H. Ger. balla, palla, N. H. Ger. ball. Cf. BALE.]
Sense 1. Any round body, or one nearly so; as, a ball of twine; a ball of snow; a ball to play with.
Sense 2. Any part of the body that is round or protuberant; as, the ball of the eye, of the thumb, &c.
Sense 3. (Print.) A cushion consisting of hair or wool, covered with leather or skin, and fastened to a stock, called a ball-stock; formerly used to put ink on the types in the forms.
Sense 4. A well-known and familiar game.
Sense 5. [From bolus.] (Far.) A large pill, a form in which medicine is commonly given to horses. White.
Sense 6. (Pyrotechnics.) A composition of combustible ingredients which serve to burn, smoke, or give light.
Sense 7. Musket balls, indefinite in quantity.
Ball-vein (Mining), a sort of iron ore, found in loose masses, of a circular form, containing sparkling particles. — Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction. Syn. — See GLOBE.