BALE, b[=a]l, _n._ evil, injury, mischief: misery: woe.--_adj._ BALE'FUL,
full of misery, destructive: full of sorrow, sad.--_adv._ BALE'FULLY.--_n._
BALE'FULNESS.--BLISS AND BALE are often alliteratively opposed; also BOOT
AND BALE. [A.S. _bealu_; Old High Ger. _balo_; Ice. _böl_.]
BALE, b[=a]l, _n._ (_arch._--_Morris_) a fire, funeral pyre: (_Scot._) a
beacon-fire.--_n._ BALE'-FIRE, a blazing fire: a beacon-fire: a bonfire.
Spenser confounds with BALE, woe. [A.S. _bæl_; Scand. _bál_; cog. with Gr.
_phalos_, bright. See BELTANE.]
BALEEN, b[=a]-l[=e]n', _n._ the whalebone of commerce. [Fr.--L. _balæna_,
whale.]
[Illustration]
BALISTRARIA, bal-is-tr[=a]r'i-a, _n._ an aperture or loophole in the wall
of a fortification through which crossbowmen might discharge their
bolts.--_n._ BAL'ISTER (_obs._), name for an arbalester or crossbowman,
also an arbalest or crossbow itself. [Low L. _ballistrarius_, _balistra_, a
variant form of _ballista_, a crossbow.]
BALK, BAULK, bawk, _n._ a ridge left unploughed, intentionally or through
carelessness: (_obs._) an omission: squared timber: a tie-beam of a house,
stretching from wall to wall, esp. when laid so as to form a loft, 'the
balks:' (_obs._) the beam of a balance: the rope by which fishing-nets are
fastened together: a hindrance or disappointment.--_v.t._ to ignore, pass
over: refuse: avoid: let slip: to check, disappoint, or elude: to meet
arguments with objections.--_v.i._ to swerve, pull up: (_Spens._) lie out
of the way.--_n._ BALK'-LINE, in billiards, a line drawn across the table
28½ inches from the face of the bottom cushion--a ball is said to be in
balk when within this space. [A.S. _balca_, ridge; Old High Ger. _balcho_.]
BALL, bawl, _n._ anything round: any celestial body, esp. the 'globe:' the
golden orb borne with the sceptre as the emblem of sovereignty: a globular
body to play with in tennis, football, golf, billiards, &c.: any rounded
protuberant part of the body: a bullet, or any missile thrown from an
engine of war: a rounded mass of anything: a throw or delivery of the ball
at cricket: a well-known game played with a ball.--_v.i._ to gather itself
into a ball, become clogged.--_ns._ BALL'-CART'RIDGE, a cartridge
containing both powder and ball [BALL and CARTRIDGE]; BALL'-COCK, the
stopcock of a cistern, attached to one end of a lever, at the other end of
which is a hollow metal ball which rises and falls with the [Illustration]
water, thus regulating the supply; BALL'-FLOW'ER, an ornament of the
decorated style of Gothic architecture, resembling a ball placed in a
circular flower.--_adj._ BALL'-PROOF, proof against balls discharged from
firearms.--BALL AND SOCKET, a joint formed of a ball partly enclosed in a
cup, thus insuring great strength; BALL OF THE EYE, the eye within the lids
and socket.--NO BALL, a ball unfairly bowled.--THREE GOLDEN or BRASS BALLS,
the sign of a pawnbroker.--TO HAVE THE BALL AT ONE'S FEET, to have a thing
in one's power; TO KEEP THE BALL UP or ROLLING, to keep from flagging; TO
TAKE UP THE BALL, to take one's turn in anything.--WIDE BALL, one out of
the batsman's reach. [M. E. _bal_, Scand. _böllr_; cog. with Old High Ger.
_ballo_, _pallo_.]
BALL, bawl, _n._ an entertainment of dancing.--_n._ BALL'ROOM.--TO OPEN THE
BALL, to begin the dancing, to begin operations. [O. Fr. _bal_, _baller_,
to dance--Low L. _ballare_, referred by some to Gr. _ballizein_.]
BALLAD, bal'lad, _n._ a simple spirited narrative poem in short stanzas of
two or four lines, in which a story is told in straightforward verse, often
with great elaborateness and detail in incident, but always with graphic
simplicity and force--a sort of minor epic: a simple song, usually of a
romantic or sentimental nature, in two or more verses, each sung to the
same melody, as in the so-called Ballad Concerts: any popular song, often
scurrilous.--_ns._ BAL'LADIST, a writer or singer of ballads;
BAL'LAD-MONGER, a dealer in ballads. [Fr. _ballade_, from _ballare_, to
dance, being orig. a song sung to the rhythmic movement of a dancing
chorus--a dramatic poem sung or acted in the dance, of which a shadow
survives in the ring-songs of our children.]
BALLADE, ba-lad', _n._ a poem of one or more terns or triplets of seven or
eight lined stanzas, each ending with the same line as refrain, and usually
an envoy: now frequently used of any poem in stanzas of equal
length.--BALLADE ROYAL, stanzas of seven or eight lines of ten
syllables--called also _Rime_ or _Rhythm royal_. [An earlier spelling of
BALLAD.]