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tion in which the articular surfaces are nearly flat, so that they form only an imperfect ball and socket.

s; ordnance, including guns, mortars, howitzers, etc., with their equipment of carriages, balls, bombs, and shot of all kinds.

cension; connected with ascent; ascensive; tending upward; as, the ascensional power of a balloon. Ascensional difference (Astron.), the difference between oblique and right ascension; -- used chiefly as expressing the difference between the time of the rising or setting of a body and six o'clock, or six hours from its…

ge; as, to ridicule a person behind his back. -- Full back, Half back, Quarter back (Football), players stationed behind those in the front line. -- To be or lie on one's back, to be helpless. -- To put, or get, one's back up, to assume an attitude of obstinate resistance (from the action of a cat when attacked.). […

In baseball, a fence, prop. at least 90 feet behind the home base, to stop the balls that pass the catcher; also, the catcher himself.

game played on an oblong board, having, at one end, cups or arches into or through which balls are to be driven by a rod held in the hand of the player.

A deceptive gesture of the pitcher, as if to deliver the ball. Balk line (Billiards), a line across a billiard table near one end, marking a limit within which the cue balls are placed in beginning a game; also, a line around the table, parallel to the sides, used in playing a particular game, called the balk line game…

See Ballotade.

A club bent at the lower part for striking a ball at play; a hockey stick. Johnson.

tender frog from injury. -- Bar shot, a double headed shot, consisting of a bar, with a ball or half ball at each end; -- formerly used for destroying the masts or rigging in naval combat. -- Bar sinister (Her.), a term popularly but erroneously used for baton, a mark of illegitimacy. See Baton. -- Bar tracery (Arc…

member forming the transition between the basement and the wall above. -- Base hit (Baseball), a hit, by which the batsman, without any error on the part of his opponents, is able to reach the first base without being put out. -- Base line. (a) A main line taken as a base, as in surveying or in military operations.…

A disease characterized by enlargement of the thyroid gland, prominence of the eyeballs, and inordinate action of the heart; -- called also exophthalmic goiter. Flint.

ally, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.

The one who wields the bat in cricket, baseball, etc.

The act of one who bats; the management of a bat in playing games of ball. Mason.

A little perforated ball, to be strung on a thread, and worn for ornament; or used in a rosary for counting prayers, as by Roman Catholics and Mohammedans, whence the phrases to tell beads, to at one's beads, to bid beads, etc., meaning, to be at prayer.

The line of flotation of a vessel when properly trimmed with cargo or ballast. Ball bearings. See under Ball. -- To bring one to his bearings, to bring one to his senses. -- To lose one's bearings, to become bewildered. -- To take bearings, to ascertain by the compass the position of an object; to ascertain the rela…

In a balloon, the braced wooden ring attached to the suspension ropes at the bottom, functionally analogous to the keel of a ship.

The superficial earthwork, or ballast, of a railroad.

to pass without notice; to relieve the tedium or weariness of; to while away; to divert. Ballads . . . to beguile his incessant wayfaring. W. Irving.