ballings

Noun

balling (countable and uncountable, plural ballings)

1. Aggregation into clumps or balls;
   • As preceding the gaseous states, Faye accepts one of "dissolution," and as the cause of the local accumulation of matter and heat in space, he, like others, regards the balling of matter through gravitation, whereby immense motion is converted into heat .1875, Bernhard von Cotta, The Development Law of the Earth, page 7
2. The act of winding into a ball.
   • The balling of wool and other fibre is effected by winding on to pipes or tubes ordinarily formed of metal with small flanges at each end , and these pipes or tubes are supported between discs upon an axis to which the desired rotary motion is given for the formation of the balls.1867, William Colborne Brookes, “A.D. 1866, 29th August. No 2228: Balling Wool, &c.”, in English Patents of Inventions, Specifications: 1866, 2187 - 2232
3. The act of curling up.
   • Thus, in the candy-wrapping shops of a confectionery factory (where the women workers are for a protracted period in a sitting position and carrying out small-scope hand motions), the physical exercises included in the P.T. break were slow, unforced bends and straightenings, balling of the fists of...1961, Boris Gerasimovich Ananʹev, Psychological Science in the USSR, page 560
4. The act of wrapping something up.
   • Even if we would like to think that we know something about these things, most of the brain's operations lurk veiled in mystery, wrapped in riddle, inside—well, you know (as I think Nauta did)...The allegorical balling of the cortical mantle cautions that all is not necessarily what it seems.2023, Daniel S. Zahm, Anatomy of Neuropsychiatry, page 321
5. The act of cutting the roots (of a tree) about six inches from the stem, wrapping roots and soil in a sack, then tying the sack with twine.
   • These cases probably start in the majority of instances from an excessive flooding of the soil with water, put on either while the trees are growing to force them along or just before they are dug in order to assist the operation of "balling."1910, Ralph E. Smith, Elizabeth H. Smith, “California Plant Diseases”, in Bulletin: College of Agriculture Agricultural Experiment Station - Issues 206-219, page 1121
6. The act or process of using a wrecking ball.
   • To do this, a temporary variance was obtained in the city's building codes, which forbid demolishing of buildings by balling .1964, Construction Craftsman - Volumes 3-4, page 14

See all 16 meanings of balling