balls

See also: Balls

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔːlz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːlz

Noun

balls

1. plural of ball

   Can you believe he can juggle six balls at once?

   • W. S. Gilbert, HMS Pinafore

     When the balls whistle free o'er the bright blue sea
     We stand to our guns all day.

2. (slang) The testicles.

   After that shot his balls were really hurting!

3. (uncountable, slang) Bravery, courage, chutzpah, or brazenness.

   He must have a lot of balls to talk to his boss that way.

   He's the guy with the big balls in that group.

   Balls is all that it takes to succeed.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Stephen Colbert to this entry?)

   • 1960, Carlos Fuentes, ‎Sam Hileman, Where the Air is Clear^[1], page 80:

     Balls is all it takes to handle these people

   • 2006, Leonardo Padura, Havana Blue^[2], page 137:

     “Balls, gentlemen, balls is what you need to win at this game"

4. (uncountable, Britain, slang) Rubbish, nonsense.

   That's a load of balls.

5. (Britain, Ireland, slang) A balls-up; a botched job.

   Don't make a balls of it!

Derived terms

Derived terms

ballsy bust one's balls

bust someone's balls have someone by the balls

Translations

follow the translations in the entry "ball" — see ball

testicles

• Aromanian: coalji n pl, boashi f pl
• Bengali: বীচি ‎(bici)
• Bulgarian: топки (bg) f pl ‎(topki)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 波子 ‎(bo¹ zi²), (vulgar) 春子 ‎(ceon¹ zi²), 波珠 ‎(bo¹ zyu¹)

• Esperanto: kojonoj
• Finnish: pallit pl, munat (fi) pl, kassit (fi) pl
• French: couilles (fr) f pl
• Georgian: ყვერები ‎(q̇verebi), კვაჯები ‎(ḳvaǯebi), ყოყორები ‎(q̇oq̇orebi)
• German: Eier (de) pl, Klöten (de) pl, m
• Greek: αρχίδια (el) n pl ‎(archídia)
• Hebrew: ביצים pl ‎(betzim)
• Indonesian: peler (vulgar), biji salak, biji peler (vulgar)

• Interlingua: coleones
• Italian: balle (it) f pl, palle (it) f pl, coglioni (it) m pl, testicoli (it) m pl
• Japanese: 金玉 (ja) ‎(kintama)
• Javanese: konthol (jv) (vulgar)
• Lithuanian: kiaušai m pl
• Persian: خايه (fa) ‎(xâye)
• Polish: jaja (pl) pl
• Portuguese: saco (pt) m, colhões (pt) m pl
• Romanian: boașe n pl, coaie n pl, ouă n pl
• Russian: я́йца (ru) n pl ‎(jájca)
• Slovene: jajca (sl) n pl
• Spanish: huevos (es) m pl, pelotas (es) f pl, cojones (es) m pl
• Yiddish: אייער n pl ‎(eyer)

bravery

• Catalan: ous (ca) m pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有種 (zh), 有种 (zh) ‎(yǒuzhǒng)

• Dutch: ballen (nl), kloten (nl)
• Finnish: muna (fi) (in the idiom "olla munaa"), kantti (fi)
• French: couilles (fr) f pl
• Georgian: ტრაკი ‎(ṭraḳi), ტრაკის ქონა ‎(ṭraḳis kona)
• Greek: αρχίδια (el) n pl ‎(archídia) (archídia)

• Hebrew: ביצים m pl ‎(betzim)
• Hungarian: tökös (hu)
• Interlingua: coleones
• Italian: palle (it) f pl
• Polish: jaja (pl) pl
• Portuguese: colhões (pt) m pl
• Spanish: huevos (es) m pl

rubbish

• Finnish: moska (fi)
• French: conneries (fr) f pl

• Italian: balle (it) f pl
• Portuguese: besteira (pt) f

Verb

balls ‎(third-person singular simple present ballses, present participle ballsing, simple past and past participle ballsed)

1. (transitive) Speaking or acting with bravado to achieve (something)
   • 1981, Tiny Boyles, ‎Hank Nuwer, ‎& William Boyles, A Killing Trade, ISBN 0872169022, page 191:

     You're going up to the front door of that mansion and ballsing your way inside.

   • 2009, Keith Brooke, The Accord, page 135:

     The poor fuck is broken-hearted, and he thinks he is ballsing it out really well, but he isn't.

   • 2014, Claire Farrell, Make You: Stake You #2:

     He was ballsing his way through the conversation. For the first time, I caught a glimpse of something vulnerable behind the usual brashness.

balls

1. third-person singular simple present indicative form of ball

Derived terms

• balls about, balls around
• balls on
• balls up

Adverb

balls ‎(not comparable)

1. (slang) Very. Intensifier.

   It is balls cold out there.

Translations

Intensifier : very

• Finnish: vitun (fi), helvetin, helkkarin

• French: putain de (fr)