ball up

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Word: Ball up

Definition:
"Ball up" is a verb that means to make a mess of something or to ruin it. When you "ball up" something, you don't do it correctly, and it ends up being disorganized or unsuccessful.

Usage Instructions:

• You can use "ball up" when talking about mistakes in tasks, plans, or any situation where things did not go as intended.
• It is often used in informal contexts.

Example Sentences:

1. "I really balled up my presentation; I forgot my main points!"
2. "He balled up the project by not following the instructions."

Advanced Usage:

In more advanced contexts, "ball up" can also refer to more complex mistakes in professional or artistic settings. For instance: - "The director balled up the film’s climax, disappointing many fans."

Word Variants:

There aren't direct variants of "ball up," but you can use it in different tenses: - Past tense: balled up - Present participle: balling up

Different Meanings:

• Literal Meaning: "Ball up" can also refer to the physical act of crumpling something into a ball shape, like paper. For example: "She balled up the paper and threw it in the trash."

Synonyms:

• Mess up
• Screw up
• Botch
• Ruin
• Fumble

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• "Screw up": Similar to "ball up," it means to make a mistake or do something poorly.
• "Mess up": Another way to say that something has gone wrong.

Summary:

"Ball up" is a useful informal term in English that you can use when talking about mistakes or failures in tasks or plans.

Academic

Verb

1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
   • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
   • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement

Synonyms

• botch
• bodge
• bumble
• fumble
• botch up
• muff
• blow
• flub
• screw up
• spoil
• muck up
• bungle
• fluff
• bollix
• bollix up
• bollocks
• bollocks up