ball up
See also: ball-up
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
ball up (third-person singular simple present balls up, present participle balling up, simple past and past participle balled up)
- (transitive) To crush into a ball shape.
- She balled up her paper in frustration.
- (transitive, intransitive) To coil up into a ball.
- He balled up his fists, ready to fight.
- (intransitive) To hunch over and pull in one's arms and legs.
- Her son balls up in fear whenever there is a storm.
- (slang, transitive) To ruin or botch.
- The best man balled up his speech, stammering and tripping over his words.
- 1916, Ring W. Lardner, “Three Kings and a Pair”, in The Saturday Evening Post:
- "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."
Synonyms
- (ruin or botch): balls up, see also Thesaurus:spoil
Translations
to crush into a ball
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to hunch over and pull in one's limbs