Word.ws English Dictionary

open the ball

open the ball verb: to begin operations; to set things in motion.

Verb

open the ball (third-person singular simple present opens the ball, present participle opening the ball, simple past and past participle opened the ball)

  1. To begin operations; to set things in motion.
    • This is "commencement week" in "over-the-counter insurance" circles, the Whitman, Mass., savings bank having opened the ball with four applications made for $300 each by three prominent business men […]1908, The Standard, volume 62, page 553

Forms of open the ball

third-person singular presentopens the ball
present participleopening the ball
past participleopened the ball
pastopened the ball

Origin of open the ball

In reference to the start of dancing at a ball.

Questions about open the ball

What does open the ball mean?
Open the ball means to begin operations; to set things in motion.
What part of speech is open the ball?
Open the ball is a verb.
What is the past tense of open the ball?
The past tense of open the ball is opened the ball.

Words near open the ball in the dictionary

  1. open system
  2. open systems
  3. open table
  4. open texture
  5. open the attack
  6. open the ball
  7. open the batting
  8. open the door
  9. open the face
  10. open the floodgates
  11. open the kimono

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: open the ball (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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