Dictionary: BALE – BALLH

• BALE
adj. 1. a1000 obs. – actively evil, deadly, dire, pernicious, destructive, fatal, cruel, tormenting
adj. 2. c1220 obs. – sorrowing, mournful, woeful
n. 1. a1000 – evil, esp. considered in its active operation, as destroying, blasting, injuring, hurting, paining, tormenting; fatal, dire, or malign quality of influence; woe, mischief, harm, injury; in earlier use often: death, infliction of death
n. 2. a1000 obs. – a great consuming fire; a conflagration; a blazing pile, a bonfire
n. 3. a1000 obs. – a funeral pile or pyre
n. 4. c1220 – evil-speaking, abuse
n. 5. c1250 obs. – physical suffering, torment, pain, woe
n. 6. c1325 – mental suffering; misery, sorrow, grief
n. 7. 1455 Sc. arch. – a signal or beacon fire
n. 8. 1481-90 obs. – the set of dice for any special game, formerly usually three
n. 9. 1940 Amer. dial. – a small package
n. 10. 1954 Amer. dial. – a box of baking soda
n. 11. M20 US drug culture sl. – a pound or kilogram of marijuana
vb. a1300 obs. rare – to dance
 
• BALE-BLEEZE
n. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – a bonfire
 
• BALEBOOS
n. 1. Bk1982 Jewish – the head of the household, master of the house
n. 2. Bk1982 Jewish – a landlord 
n. 3. Bk1982 Jewish – a male employer 
 
• BALEBOS
n. 1. Bk1966 Yiddish sl. – an orderly person; a householder, the head of a family
n. 2. Bk1966 Yiddish sl. – the owner, the big boss 
 
• BALEBOSS
n. Bk1998 Yiddish – the head of the house; a store owner; a manager; anyone in authority 
 
• BALED HAY
n. 1916 US Army sl. – dehydrated vegetables
 
• BALEEN
n. 1. c1325 – whalebone
n. 2. 1387 obs. – a whale
 
• BALE-FIRE
n. 1. a1000 – a great fire in the open air; a blazing pile or heap kindled to consume anything; in Old English, the fire of a funeral pile
n. 2. 1805 – a great fire kindled as a signal; a beacon-fire
n. 3. 1800-24 – any great fire; a bonfire
 
• BALEFUL
adj. 1. a1000 – full of malign, deadly, or noxious influence; pernicious, destructive, noxious, injurious, mischievous, malignant
adj. 2. c1200 obs. – full of pain or suffering; painful
adj. 3. c1325 arch. – unhappy, wretched, miserable; distressed, sorrowful, mournful
 
• BALEFULNESS
n. 1592 – hurtfulness; distress, sadness
 
• BALEISE
vb. 1876 Eng. dial. – to beat, to flog, to whip, to scourge
 
• BALELESS
adj. a1000 obs. – harmless, innocent
 
• BALE OF HAY
n. 1. L19 sl. – corned beef and cabbage
n. 2. 1930s US sl. – a strawberry ice-cream
n. 3. 1947 US sl. – a blonde person
 
• BALE OF STRAW
n. 1. c1928 US sl. – a blonde person
n. 2. Bk1942 Amer. sl. – blonde hair
n. 3. 2000s rhyming sl. for ‘in the raw’ – a state of nakedness
 
• BALE ON
vb. 1. 1960s US teen sl. – to break a date
vb. 2. 1960s US teen sl. – to oppress, to give a hard time to, to trouble
 
• BALES
n. Bk1890 sl. – the policeman who superintends the Black Maria, or prison van
 
• BALE-SITHE
n. a1000 obs. – death, destruction; evil-doing, mischief; evil fortune, calamity
 
• BALES OF BRIQUETTES
n. 1970s Irish sl. – platform-soled shoes
 
• BALESTER
n. 1489 obs. – an arbalester, a crossbowman
 
• BALESTROD
n. a1500 Sc. – a bawd, a procurer
 
• BALE UP
int. M19 sl. – stop!
vb. 1. M19 Aust. sl. – to trap, to corner
vb. 2. 1990s Aust. sl. – to stop someone on the street for a chat
 
• BALFUFF
n. 1933 Sc. – a fictitious place, remote and unspecified
 
• BALFURD
vb. Bk1898 Sc. – to put anything carefully aside; to secrete
 
• BALGH
adj. 1. c1340 obs. – round, rounded
adj. 2. c1440 obs. – smooth
 
• BAL-GIRL
n. 1846 Eng. dial. – a girl who works at a mine

• BALI BELLY
n. Bk2007 Aust. sl. – an attack of diarrhoea
 
• BALIKBAYAN
n. 1976 Philippine English – a Filipino visiting or returning to the Philippines after a period of living in another country
 
• BALILLILOW
n. 1721 Sc. – a lullaby, a song and tune used in hushing a child to sleep; sleep produced by this
 
• BAL-IRE
n. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – a crowbar
 
• BALISTAR
n. Bk1855 obs. – a man using a crossbow
 
• BALISTARIUS
n. Bk1708 obs. – a maker of slings, guns, or crossbows, or one that shoots out of them
 
• BALISTER
n. 1.  1489 obs. – an arbalester, a crossbowman
n. 2. 1697 obs. rare – an arbalest, a crossbow
 
• BALISTRIER
n. 1440 obs. rare – a crossbowman
 
• BALIVAL
adj. 1854  – pert. to a bailiff or his office
​
• ​BALK
n. 1. c885 obs. – a ridge, heap, or mound upon the ground, as a grave-mound
n. 2. c1430 obs. – a slip, a mistake, a blunder
n. 3. 1538 obs. – a dividing ridge of land; an isthmus; a bar of sand, etc.
n. 4. 1549 obs. – a ridge in the way, over which one may stumble; a stumbling-block, an obstacle
n. 5. 1596 obs. exc. Eng. dial. – an omission; an exception
n. 6. 1660 – a hindrance, check, or defeat
n. 7. 1733 – the failure of an expectation; a disappointment
n. 8. 1746 Eng. dial. – reluctance, objection
n. 9. 1859 Eng. dial. sl. – a false rumour
n. 10. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – a muddle; a stoppage
n. 11. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – a jeer
n. 12. 1940 Amer. dial. – a pile of leaves; brush piled up around a tree or bush
n. 13. Bk1945 criminals’ sl. – a resisting victim of a hold up 
vb. 1. 1484 obs. – to pass by a place; to avoid in passing; to shun
vb. 2. 1579 obs. – to miss by error or inadvertence
vb. 3. 1596 obs. – to meet arguments with objections; to quibble, to bandy words
vb. 4. 1865 Eng. dial. – to hinder, to prevent, to thwart, to impede
vb. 5. 1886 Eng. dial. – to disappoint
vb. 6. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – to keep silent, to be reticent about
vb. 7. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – to leave work undone; to do anything carelessly
 
• BALKAN TAP
n. 20C sl. – madness
 
• BALKED UP
adj. 1. 1892 Eng. dial. – hidden, screened from sight
adj. 2. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – propped up
 
• BALKER
n. 1602 – a man on a high point ashore, who signals to fishing-boats the direction taken by the schools of herring or other fish
 
• THE BALKS
n. 1941 Amer. dial. – fits of stubbornness
 
• BALKY
adj. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – slightly intoxicated
 
• BALL
n. 1. a1325 – a testicle
n. 2. 1523 obs. – a white streak or spot, as on an animal
n. 3. 1580 Eng. dial. – a white-faced horse
n. 4. 1633 obs. – a dance or dancing
n. 5. M18 US sl. – a bullet
n. 6. 1825 Sc. – bustle, disturbance
n. 7. 1845 Eng. dial. – the footprint of a fox
n. 8. 1866 US sl. – a glass of whisky or other liquor
n. 9. 1880 Eng. dial. – a large and compact shoal of herrings
n. 10. Bk1881 – a stout fellow
n. 11. 1895 US sl. – a dollar, esp. a dollar coin
n. 12. Bk1898 Eng. dial. – a knoll, a rounded hill
n. 13. M19 UK criminals’ sl. – a prison ration, 170g (6oz) of meat
n. 14. 1910s US sl. – baseball
n. 15. 1912 US drug culture sl. – a small package of morphine or an other narcotic, as used by an addict
n. 16. 1929 US sl., esp. African-American usage – a riotously good time, a party or celebration; hence, that which provides a riotously good time
n. 17. 1941 Amer. dial. – the yolk of an egg
n. 18. 1950s US drug culture sl. – a feeling of well-being; a ‘high’ from a drug
n. 19. 1951 US sl. – a woman’s breast
n. 20. 1952 US sl. – an act of copulation; hence, a person regarded as a sexual partner
n. 21. 1960s sl. – an orgy
n. 22. 1965 Amer. dial. – hair coiled at the back of a woman’s head; a bun
n. 23. 1973 US sl. – a thing for which one is expected to take the responsibility of completing, performing, etc.
n. 24. 1980s sl., orig. African-American – basketball 
n. 25. 1982 Amer. dial. – the rounded back part of the head
n. 26. 1994 US drug culture sl. – crack cocaine
n. 27. 20C rhyming sl. (Ball of Chalk) – a talk
n. 28. 20C rhyming sl. (Ball of Chalk) – a walk
n. 29. 2001 US sl. – a delightful person
n. 30. 2002 UK drug culture sl. – black-tar heroin
n. 31. a2002 US sl. – a stupid or silly fellow; used in response to an unintelligent action, as a sarcastic response to a foolish remark or as an observation on someone’s character or lack thereof
vb. 1. 1854 Eng. dial. – to beat, to thrash
vb. 2. 1866 Sc. – to behave in a disorderly manner
vb. 3. 1878 Eng. dial. – to track the footprints of a fox
vb. 4. 1888 – of bees: to surround the queen in a dense cluster, often with the result that she is suffocated or crushed to death
vb. 5. Bk1898 Sc. – to throw at, to pelt
vb. 6. 1908 Sc. – to speak indistinctly, in a disjointed manner
vb. 7. 1939 US sl. – to travel or drive at high speed
vb. 8. 1942 Amer. dial., chiefly African-American – to have a good or exciting time; to have riotous fun
vb. 9. c1953 Amer. sl. – to have sex with
vb. 10. 1966 Amer. dial. – to put up one’s hair in a bun
vb. 11. 1980s African-American sl. – to play basketball
vb. 12. M20 US drug culture sl. – to absorb narcotics through the mucus members of the genitals
vb. 13. Bk2006 US sl. – to depart; to leave
 
• BALLA
n. 1. 1990 sl., orig. & chiefly African-American – a person, esp. a drug dealer, who spends money freely and ostentatiously
n. 2. 1990s African-American sl. – one who is extremely rich, esp. from the profits of criminality
 
• BALLAD
n. 1. c1500 obs. – a song intended as the accompaniment to a dance; the tune to which the song is sung
n. 2. 1528 obs. – a proverbial saying, usually in the form of a couplet
n. 3. 1556 obs. – a popular song; often one celebrating or scurrilously attacking persons or institutions
n. 4. 1950s W. Indies & Black British sl. – a story, usually long and complicated
n. 5. 1970s US homosexual sl. – an excuse
 
• BALLAD-BASKET
n. 1749 UK sl. – a street singer
 
• BALLADEER
n. 1714 – a person who sings or composes ballads
 
• BALLADER
n. 1589 – a writer  of ballads or scurrilous verses
 
• BALLADIC
adj. 1881 – pert. to ballads
 
• BALLADICAL
adj. 1615 obs. – pert. to ballads
 
• BALLADIER
n. 1637 obs. – a street ballad-singer
 
• BALLADIN;  BALLADINE
n. 1. 1599 obs. – a theatrical dancer; a mountebank, a buffoon
n. 2. 1604 obs. – a ballad-maker or singer
 
• BALLADIST
n. 1811 – a maker or singer of ballads
 
• BALLADLING
n. 1798 nonce word – a little ballad
 
• BALLAD-MAKER
n. 1565 – a ballad poet
 
• BALLAD-MONGER
n. 1598 – a maker or seller of ballads; spec., one who writes or deals in cheap or slanderous verse, used depreciatively
 
• BALLAD SINGER
n. 1592 – one who strolls about singing ballads
 
• BALLAHOO
adj. 20C W. Indies sl. – noisy, boisterous, obstreperous
 
• BALLANCE
vb. 1715 Sc. – to hesitate, to scruple
 
• BALL AND BAT
n. 20C Eng. rhyming sl. – a hat
 
• BALL AND CHAIN
n. 1. 1921 US sl. – one’s wife, esp. if domineering 
n. 2. 1932 US sl. – one’s girlfriend or sweetheart, esp. if domineering
n. 3. Bk1945 criminals’ sl. – a boy tramp, usually a catamite, who travels with an older tramp
n. 4. 20C sl. – marriage
 
• BALL-AND-CHAINED
adj. 1972 US sl. – married
 
• BALL AND CHALK
n. 20C rhyming sl. – a walk
vb. 1. 20C rhyming sl. – to talk
vb. 2. 20C rhyming sl. – to walk
 
• BALLANT
n. 1814 Sc. & Eng. dial. – a ballad, a song
 
• BALLARAT
n. 1980s Aust. prison rhyming sl. for ‘cat’ – a homosexual
 
• BALLARAT LANTERN
n. L19 Aust. & NZ sl. – a candle stuck in the neck of a bottle, the bottom of which has been knocked off
 
• BALLARAT PASSIVE
n. 1980s Aust. sl. – a male homosexual
 
• BALLARD
n. 1. 1382 obs. – a bald-headed person
n. 2. 1796 Eng. dial. – a castrated ram
 
• BALLART
n. c1300 obs. rare – the hare
 
• BALLAST
n. 1. 1612 – that which tends to give stability in morals or politics, to steady the mind or feelings, etc.
n. 2. 1620 obs. – load, burden, freight
n. 3. B1874 Eng. sl. – money
n. 4. E19 sl. – heavy food
n. 5. 1900s US sl. – a gun
n. 6. 1945 US railroad sl. – turkey or chicken dressing
vb. 1. 1566 arch. – to load, to burden, to weigh down
vb. 2. 1590 obs. – to freight, to load with cargo
vb. 3. 1596 – to steady (generally); to steady mentally or morally
 
• BALLASTED
adj. 1552 – rendered steady or stable
 
• BALLASTLESS
adj. 1885 – unsteady
 
• BALLAST SCORCHER
n. Bk1978 railroad usage – a speedy engineer
 
• BALLAST-TRAIN GUARD
n. Bk1898 – a railway official in charge of a train of loaded trucks
 
• BALLATRON
n. 1623 – a buffoon; a contemptible fellow; a rascally, base knave
 
• BALLATROUGH
n. Bk1898 Eng. dial. obs. – a foolish, nonsensical prater
 
• BALLAWHANG
vb. 1905 Amer. dial. – to beat or handle roughly
 
• BALL-BAG
n. 1. L19 sl. – the scrotum
n. 2. 1960s US sl. – a jockstrap
 
• BALLBASKET
n. 1968 US sl. – a jockstrap
 
• BALL-BEARING
adj. a1945 US sl., esp. military usage – of a man: performing duties typically performed by a woman, as typing, etc.
n. 1981 euphemism – a term of abuse for a man
 
• BALL-BEARING COWBOY
n. 1980 Aust. sl. – one who chases cattle in a vehicle instead of on a horse
 
• BALL-BEARING MOUSETRAP
n. M20 sl. – a tomcat
 
• BALLBREAKER
n. 1. 1942 US sl. – that which is bitterly trying or unpleasant, esp. an agonizing or difficult task, experience, etc.; a bitter disappointment
n. 2. 1942 US sl. – a demanding, contentious, harassing, annoying, or otherwise vexatious person; a cruel taskmaster; a strict disciplinarian; a nagging or domineering woman
n. 3. 1969 US sl. – an extraordinary person, thing, event, etc.; a sexually attractive woman
n. 4. 1970s sl., orig. US – a thug
n. 5. 1970s sl., orig. US  a weapon
n. 6. 1971 US military sl. – a kind of antipersonnel mine
n. 7. 1975 sl., orig. US – a tease
 
• BALL-BREAKING
adj. 1. 1959 US sl. – troublesome, difficult, very irritating, physically demanding, exhausting
adj. 2. 1959 US sl. – acting as a hard taskmaster; of a woman: aggressive, demanding; dominating
n. 1948 US sl. – harassment
 
• BALL-BUSTER
n. 1. 1942 US sl. – that which is bitterly trying or unpleasant, esp. an agonizing or arduous task, experience, etc.; a bitter disappointment
n. 2. c1944 US sl. – a demanding, contentious, harassing, annoying, or otherwise vexatious person; a cruel taskmaster; a strict disciplinarian; a nagging or domineering woman
n. 3. 1950s US college sl. – a notably hard course or examination
n. 4. 1975 sl. – any thing or person seen as extraordinary or outstanding
n. 5. 1989 US criminals’ sl. – a thief who grabs his victim by the testicles while his accomplice takes his wallet
n. 6. Bk1989 college sl. – a girl who is a tease
n. 7. M20 US sl. – a sexually attractive woman
 
• BALL-BUSTING
adj. 1. 1944 US sl. – troublesome, difficult; irritating; physically demanding, exhausting 
adj. 2. 1944 US sl. – acting as a hard taskmaster; of a woman: aggressive, demanding
n. 1940s sl., orig. US – harassment
 
• BALL CHAIN
n. Bk1945 jive usage – the wife
 
• BALL-CLANKER
n. 1960s US sl. – a man who boasts, probably groundlessly, of his sexual prowess
 
• BALL-CRUSHER
n. 1. 1970 US sl. – that which is bitterly trying or unpleasant, esp. an agonizing or arduous task, experience, etc.; a bitter disappointment
n. 2. 1970s sl. – a dominating woman who emasculates her partner, usually a husband
n. 3. 1980s sl. – a sexually voracious woman who exhausts her partner’s virility
 
• BALL-CUTTER
n. 1962 US sl. – a demanding, nagging, or domineering woman 
 
• BALL DOG
n. 1935 baseball usage – a person who will chase and return stray baseballs
 
• BALLE
n. c1440 obs. – a sheep
 
• BALL-EATER
n. Bk1975 Amer. sl. – a proficient baseball fielder
 
• BALLED
adj. 1846 Eng. dial. – beaten
 
• BALLED-UP
adj. 1. L19 US sl. – mixed up, in a mess; disorderly
adj. 2. Bk1942 Amer. sl. – bewildered; confused; muddled 
adj. 3. 1968 Amer. dial. – constipated
 
• BALLER
n. 1. 1668 obs. – one who takes part in a ball for dancing
n. 2. 1962 sl. – a hedonist, a person who believes that the pursuit of happiness is the most important thing in life; a pleasure-seeker
n. 3. 1990 sl., orig. & chiefly African-American – a person, esp. a drug dealer, who spends money freely and ostentatiously 
n. 4. 1990s African-American sl. – one who is extremely rich, esp. from the profits of criminality
n. 5. 1990s US college sl. – an attractive person
n. 6. 1996 US college sl. – one who enjoys playing sport, esp. basketball
n. 7. 2001 US sl. – a drug dealer, usually of crack cocaine
n. 8. Bk2006 US sl. – an athlete; one who plays with footballs, basketballs, baseballs, etc.
 
• BALLER BLOCKER
n. 2000s African-American sl. – a person who stops one from succeeding
 
• BALLERINA
n. 1789 – a female ballet dancer, esp. one who undertakes a leading role in classical ballet
 
• BALLERINO
n. 1934 chiefly US – a male ballet dancer
 
• BALLET
n. 1. 1782 obs. – a dance
n. 2. 1866 Eng. & Amer. dial. – a song, a ballad
 
• BALLET-GIRL
n. Bk1898 – an opera figure dancer, one who takes part in the ballet at a theatre
 
• BALLET MASTER
n. Bk1978 railroad usage – a section foreman 
 
• BALLETOMANE
n. 1919 – a ballet enthusiast
 
• BALLETTER
n. 1589 – a writer of ballads or scurrilous verses 
 
• BALLFACE
n. 1. 1839 US sl. – raw or inferior whisky
n. 2. a1849 US sl. – a contemptuous name applied by Blacks to White persons
 
• BALL-FACED
adj. 1990s sl. – a general term of derision
 
• BALLFACE WHISKY
n. E19 US sl. – cheap. potent whisky
 
• BALLFUFF
n. 1912 Sc. – a fictitious place, remote and unspecified
 
• BALLGAME
n. 1930 US sl. – a challenging or competitive situation; hence, state of affairs, a situation
 
• BALL GOWN
n. 1970s US homosexual sl. – a man’s suit
 
• BALL GRUNT
n. 1. Bk1945 criminals’ sl. – a woman of easy morals
n. 2. Bk1945 criminals’ sl. – a cook’s helper
 
• BALLGUSTED
adj. 1834 US jocular usage – flabbergasted, astonished, disgusted, appalled
 
• BALLHAWK
n. 1. 1920 US sl. – in sports, esp. baseball: a fielder who is skilled in catching or gaining possession of a ball
n. 2. Bk1999 baseball usage – a person who collects as souvenirs balls that are hit outside a ballpark
n. 3. Bk2006 Amer. sl. – in basketball: a player who specializes in recovering loose balls; an aggressive defensive player who dives for and recovers loose balls, blocks passes, and shots, and makes steals and interceptions
 
• BALLHEAD
n. 1. 1957 Black British sl. – a bald person
n. 2. 1970s W. Indies sl. – a non-Rastafarian Black person
n. 3. 1976 orig. & chiefly Caribbean – a Rastafarian who does not wear dreadlocks; more widely, a non-Rastafarian; any person without dreadlocks
n. 4. 1989 NZ sl. – an outsider
n. 5. Bk1995 US sl. – an athlete; someone obsessed with ball games; perhaps a stupid one
 
• BALL-HEADED
adj. 1884 Amer. dial. – foolish
 
• BALL HOG
n. Bk2006 Amer. sl. – in basketball: a player who is not very popular for the simple reason that he or she doesn’t like to pass the ball
 
• BALLHOOT
vb. 1913 Amer. dial. – in logging: to roll logs down a steep incline
 
• BALL HOOTER
n. 1942 US sl. – in logging: a logger who rolls logs down hillsides that are too steep for wagon teams
 
• BALLHOP
n. 1970s Irish sl. – a rumour, an unsupported theory; a lie
 
• BALLHOPPER
n. 1972 Irish sl. – one who is deliberately deceptive or tells fabrications; a rumour-monger  
 
• BALL HOUND
n. 1935 baseball usage – one who will chase and return stray baseballs