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."