ball game

Noun

ball game (plural ball games)

1. Any game played with a ball.
   • Basketball, cricket, and football are three kinds of ball game.
2. A specific contest or match between teams playing such a game, in particular a baseball game.
   • George and Harriet went to the stadium to see the ball game.
3. (historical) A sport played in the Aztec and Mayan civilizations; Mesoamerican ballgame.
   • The ball game was the main sport in Central America before the arrival of the Spanish.
4. (figuratively) Affair, issue, matter, subject, story, topic.
   • Think things over, Callahan. Get with it. It's a whole new ball game these days.1983, Joseph Stinson, Sudden Impact (motion picture), spoken by Captain Briggs (Bradford Dillman)
5. (figuratively, slang) A decisive outcome in regard to some ongoing situation; game over.
   • If a U.S. presidential candidate receives 270 electoral votes, that's the ball game.