Rate this phrase:4.0 / 3 votes

black ball

Stall, close ranks, make it impossible to make a break through

Etymology:

  • The origin of the expression may have been derived from the black ball in the game of pool which once sunken signals the end of the game
461 Views

the police black balled all efforts to get information about a case

Submitted by ntiyisos on August 18, 2020

Translation

Find a translation for the black ball phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to black ball

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this black ball phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this black ball definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "black ball." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/black-ball_62378>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    Don't throw stones if you live in a _______.
    A tree
    B castle
    C stone quarry
    D glasshouse