ball up
1. To roll or form into a ball. Three-banded armadillos are known for balling up when they are threatened by predators. This material tends to ball up when it gets wet. Don't use too much glue, or the paper will just ball up on you.
2. To roll or form something into a ball. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "ball" and "up." I balled up my clothes and threw them in the hamper. Wet each piece of paper before balling it up until you have 10 to 15 of them. Let me get this straight—you got in trouble because you balled up a piece of paper and threw it at the back of somebody's head in the middle of class? Why would you do that?
3. To muddle, confuse, or ruin something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "ball" and "up." Boy, I really balled up the directions—where are we? Here are the items I need from the grocery store—don't ball it up! Can you help me sort out this report the interns balled up?
4. To cause someone to become confused or flummoxed. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "ball" and "up." Missing the last page of the directions really balled me up—that's why I'm late. What did you say? Sorry, forgetting my coffee at home has really balled me up! I had been doing OK in Algebra class, until this last lesson totally balled me up.
balls up
noun, rude slang
1. Horribly awry to the point of complete ruin or disaster. Mary's Monday morning routine went balls up when she spilled coffee on herself, missed the train, and arrived to work late. A: "Uncle Sal and Uncle Mike both came to Thanksgiving, and they haven't spoken in years, so you can imagine how that all went." B: "Balls up?" Any time I don't get there early to set up, it feels like the whole day goes balls up real quick.
2. A blunder that causes disastrous results; a mess-up. Usually hyphenated. The balls-up with the code has put the entire software platform in jeopardy. As you can imagine, after that balls-up with the directions, we got quite lost. A: "There's a balls-up with the report?" B: "Yep. The interns generated it." A: "Oh, say no more."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
ball someone or something up
to interfere with someone or something; to mess someone or something up. Who balled this television up? Someone balled up the television.
ball something up
to roll something up into a ball. (Alluding to something, such as rope, being tangled up and so useless.) She balled the clay up and stuck it to the clown's face as a nose. Why are you balling up the paper?
*(all) balled up
troubled; confused; in a mess. (*Typically: be ~; get ~.) John is all balled up because his car was stolen.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
ball up
1. Roll something into a ball, as in She loved to knit and was always balling up her yarn. [Early 1800s]
2. Confuse or bungle, as in Jane got all balled up at the beginning of her speech, or Henry really balled up that exam. This term may come from the fact that when a horse is driven over soft or partly thawed snow, the snow becomes packed into icy balls on its hoofs, making it stumble. Another theory is that it alludes to the vulgar term balls for testicles. [First half of 1900s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.