ball mill

noun

1. a grinding mill in which the material to be ground is tumbled in a drum with heavy balls of iron, steel, or stone.

ball mill

noun

1. engineering a horizontal cylinder or cone in which a substance, such as a mineral, is ground by rotation with steel or ceramic balls

Word History and Origins

Origin of ball mill¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The team used a ball mill, a tool normally used to grind or blend materials in mineral processing, to grind down crystallized ice.

From Scientific American

Picture taken through a ball mill machine June 28, 2019.

From Reuters

An employee measures a newly manufactured ball mill machine at a factory in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China June 28, 2019.

From Reuters

He mixes the ash with water in a ball mill, which rotates to create a kind of sludge.

From New York Times

This is the “ball mill,” a building dominated by a giant metal drum that resembles a cement mixer.

From Washington Post