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Definition of ball-up

ball-up

Plural:ball-ups
•
Past Simple:balled-up
•
Past Participle:balled-up
•
Present Participle:balling-up
JUMP TO:

• noun

1

A state of confusion, disorder, or a badly bungled situation (informal).

Example

"There was a complete ball-up with the hotel reservations, leaving half the guests without rooms."

Synonyms
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Antonyms
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• verb

1

To form, crush, or gather something into a tight ball or round mass.

Example

"He began to ball-up the scrap paper and toss it into the recycling bin."

2

To confuse, bungle, or ruin a task or situation (informal).

Example

"Try not to ball-up the schedule again when you enter the new dates."

Synonyms
View all synonyms for ball-up
Antonyms
View all antonyms for ball-up

Word Nuance & Usage

When hyphenated as 'ball-up', the term is most commonly used as a noun meaning a confused mess or blunder, whereas the unhyphenated phrasal verb 'ball up' is preferred for the action.

• Nearby Words

balky
ball
ball python
ball-up
ballad
balladeer
balladist

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Ball-up. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/ball--up
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