as in rolled
to form into a round compact mass
balled up the paper and threw it at the garbage can
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of balled
Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 23 Apr. 2026
Bare root trees and shrubs, as the name suggests, are not sold in a pot or balled and burlapped.
—Dr. Lauren Kurtz, Hartford Courant, 21 Feb. 2026
Pare raised both hands, balled in fists, pumping away.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
The Knicks had a chance to cut Phoenix’s lead down to just four with under a minute left in regulation, but Karl-Anthony Towns air-balled a wide-open three at the top of the key.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2026
Trump's pin features a cartoon version of himself with his mouth open, brows furrowed and fists balled at his sides.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
Pre-dug and balled include white pine, Norway spruce, and Colorado blue spruce.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 21 Nov. 2025
Her brother cannon-balled off a rock to join her.
—Brianna Randall, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Newly installed balled and burlapped plants need about 1 inch of water a week — be sure the root ball is getting watered.
—Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025
Verb
Jokic came off a pin-down from Braun to catch on the right wing — again making Gobert chase him around a screen — but air-balled the 3-pointer.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 23 Apr. 2026
Bare root trees and shrubs, as the name suggests, are not sold in a pot or balled and burlapped.
—Dr. Lauren Kurtz, Hartford Courant, 21 Feb. 2026
Pare raised both hands, balled in fists, pumping away.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026
The Knicks had a chance to cut Phoenix’s lead down to just four with under a minute left in regulation, but Karl-Anthony Towns air-balled a wide-open three at the top of the key.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 18 Jan. 2026
Trump's pin features a cartoon version of himself with his mouth open, brows furrowed and fists balled at his sides.
—Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 10 Jan. 2026
Pre-dug and balled include white pine, Norway spruce, and Colorado blue spruce.
—Gege Reed, Louisville Courier Journal, 21 Nov. 2025
Her brother cannon-balled off a rock to join her.
—Brianna Randall, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Newly installed balled and burlapped plants need about 1 inch of water a week — be sure the root ball is getting watered.
—Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for balled
Adjective
-
With its rounded corners, lofty windows, and ornate façade, the building incorporates elements from many periods and architectural styles.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Here, the creative studio pitches concepts like jeans with cutoff waistbands, crinkled barely-there washes, repairs and rounded patchwork and super flare silhouettes that mimic ’70s DIY fits.—
Angela Velasquez,
Footwear News,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Shoemaker swerved right off the 210 and rolled his Ford Bronco down the embankment, about three stories high, and onto the 57 freeway.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2026
-
At the sweet sound of the final whistle, Martin Odegaard rolled onto the turf and lay there motionless.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
At the new Orkin Discovery Zone inside the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, visitors can learn how termites and the mounds these bulbous invertebrates make have inspired the chimneys in our homes.—
Olivia Wakim,
AJC.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
The insect has a long neck and narrow head topped with bulbous compound eyes and a pair of long antennae.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Socks Are Inside Other Clothes Did the sock actually enter another space-time continuum—or did it get wadded up in someone's pant leg?—
Katie Cloyd,
Martha Stewart,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Some dots resemble pairs of eyes; others appear as overlapping roundish figures.—
Shanti Escalante-De Mattei,
ARTnews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Bieber’s stage was large, roundish, and mostly bare, with a hilly ridge around the edges.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In the new images, the nebula’s buckyballs are prominent, concentrated in the spherical shell immediately around the central dying star.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The sample is a single spherical meteorite weighing 44 grams, with a dark molten outer shell.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Nike engineered the globular Air units to be flexible and low to the ground.—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The plant is easily identified by its rampant growth in the spring and its spiny globular fruit.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Briefly appearing in a TikTok video about the new MacBook Neo, a brand-new, rotund character based on Apple's iconic Finder application, the file manager on Apple computers, is taking the internet by storm.—
Greta Cross,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
-
His rotund frame and bald head gave him the appearance of a human bowling ball.—
Gabriel Sherman,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Balled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/balled. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
