no ball

noun

, Cricket.

1. an unfairly bowled ball.

no-ball

noun

1. cricket an illegal ball, as for overstepping the crease, throwing, etc, for which the batting side scores a run, and from which the batsman can be out only by being run out
2. rounders an illegal ball, esp one bowled too high or too low

sentence substitute

1. cricket rounders a call by the umpire indicating a no-ball

verb

1. tr cricket of an umpire
   1. to declare (a bowler) to have bowled a no-ball
   2. to declare (a delivery) to be a no-ball

Word History and Origins

Origin of no ball¹

First recorded in 1740–50

Example Sentences

“Or, ‘I’m gonna high five myself, no balls were dropped today.’”

From Salon

England debutant George Scrimshaw bowls six no balls in his first two overs, but ends his second over with his maiden wicket.

From BBC

The idea was to impose their game on South Africa but they had no ball, no possession, no respite.

From BBC

It was called pantomime because no balls were used.

From Washington Post

"Otherwise it will be a tremendously dangerous reaction for the whole world. Some Western officials said that Russia has no balls. Guys, do you really want to see it?"

From BBC