ballgame

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ball game

also ball·game (bôl′gām′)

a. Any of various games, such as baseball, played with a ball.

b. A game with religious and political significance in some pre-Columbian societies of Mesoamerica, southwestern North America, and the Caribbean, played with a rubber ball in a walled court.

2. Slang

a. A competition: "But in the winner-take-all world of politics, the contest for the undecided 2 or 3 percent can be the whole ballgame" (Brad Edmondson).

b. A particular condition, situation, or set of circumstances.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ballgame

(ˈbɔːlˌɡeɪm)

1. any game played with a ball

2. (Baseball) US and Canadian a game of baseball

3. informal a situation; state of affairs (esp in the phrase a whole new ballgame)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Noun	1.	ballgame - a particular situation that is radically different from the preceding situation; "HDTV looks the same but it's really a whole new ballgame" new ballgame situation, state of affairs - the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"- Franklin D.Roosevelt
	2.	ballgame - a field game played with a ball (especially baseball) ball game field game - an outdoor game played on a field of specified dimensions baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" close - change one's body stance so that the forward shoulder and foot are closer to the intended point of impact

ballgame

noun

Ballgames

American football, Australian Rules, bagatelle, bar billiards, baseball, billiards, boules, bowling, bumble-puppy, Canadian football, crazy golf, croquet, fives, football or (U.S.) soccer, goalball, golf, handball, hockey, hurling, korfball, lacrosse, netball, paintball game, piggy in the middle, pinball, pocket billiards, punchball, pushball, pyramid, rounders, snooker, squash, Subbuteo (trademark), volleyball

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

References in periodicals archive ?

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