What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between lay and ball?

lay | ball | Synonyms |

Lay is a synonym of ball.


As verbs the difference between lay and ball

is that lay is to place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position or lay can be (lie) when pertaining to position while ball is to form or wind into a ball.

As nouns the difference between lay and ball

is that lay is arrangement or relationship; layout or lay can be a lake or lay can be a ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung or lay can be (obsolete) a meadow; a lea while ball is a solid or hollow sphere or ball can be a formal dance.

As a adjective lay

is non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

As a interjection ball is

(australian rules football) an appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player this is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled.

lay

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) layen, leggen, from (etyl) .

Verb

  • (label) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
  • to lay''' a book on the table;   to '''lay a body in the grave
    A shower of rain lays the dust.
  • * Bible, (w) vi. 17
  • A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
  • * 1735 , author unknown, The New-England Primer'', as reported by Fred R. Shapiro in ''The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Yale University Press, pages 549–550:
  • Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.}}
  • *
  • *:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
  • :: A corresponding intransitive version of this word is .
  • To cause to subside or abate.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.viii:
  • The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd , they fiercely then begin to shoure
  • * 1662 , , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems , Dialogue 2:
  • But how upon the winds being laid , doth the ship cease to move?
  • (label) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
  • * 2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 48:
  • Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
  • (label) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
  • lay''' brick;  '''lay flooring
  • (label) To produce and deposit an egg.
  • (label) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
  • I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
  • (label) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.
  • To have sex with.
  • * 1944 , (Raymond Chandler), The Lady in the Lake , Penguin 2011, p. 11:
  • ‘It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.’
  • (label) To take a position; to come or go.
  • to lay''' forward;  to '''lay aloft
  • (label) To state; to allege.
  • to lay the venue
    (Bouvier)
  • (label) To point; to aim.
  • to lay a gun
  • (label) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
  • to lay a cable or rope
  • (label) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
  • (label) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
  • To apply; to put.
  • * Bible, (w) xxxi. 19
  • She layeth her hands to the spindle.
  • To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
  • to lay a tax on land
  • * Bible, (w) liii. 6
  • The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • To impute; to charge; to allege.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiv. 12
  • God layeth not folly to them.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Lay the fault on us.
  • To present or offer.
  • to lay''' an indictment in a particular county;   to '''lay a scheme before one
    (Webster 1913)
    Derived terms
    * lay a finger on * lay a foundation * lay an egg * lay about * lay away * lay bare * lay-by/lay by * lay claim * lay down * lay hands on * lay-in * laying on of hands * lay into * lay low * layoff * lay on the line * lay on the table * lay out * lay siege * lay the groundwork * lay to rest * lay up * lay waste * get laid

    References

    *

    Etymology 2

    From the verb.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Arrangement or relationship; layout.
  • the lay of the land
  • A share of the profits in a business.
  • * 1851 ,
  • I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays', and that these ' lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company.
  • The direction a rope is twisted.
  • Worm and parcel with the lay ; turn and serve the other way.
  • (colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
  • * 1996 , JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts , MIRA (1996), ISBN 9780778315254, page 166:
  • Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay .
  • * 2000 , R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake , MIRA (2000), ISBN 1551666251, page 288:
  • To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay , Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.
  • * 2011 , Kelly Meding, Trance , Pocket Books (2011), ISBN 9781451620924, pages 205-206:
  • “Because I don't want William to be just another lay . I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago.
    What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?
  • (colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * 1993 , David Halberstam, The Fifties , Open Road Integrated Media (2012), ISBN 9781453286074, unnumbered page:
  • Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay .”
  • * 2009 , Fern Michaels, The Scoop , Kensington Books (2009), ISBN 9780758227188, pages 212-213:
  • She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay , you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully.
  • * 2011 , Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make , Kimani Press (2011), ISBN 9780373861996, unnumbered page:
  • “What she needs is a good lay . If she had someone to rock her world on a regular basis, she wouldn't be such a raging bit—”
  • (slang, archaic) A plan; a scheme.
  • (Charles Dickens)
    Synonyms
    * (casual sexual partner) see also .
    Derived terms
    * lay of the land

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) laie, lawe, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lake.
  • Etymology 4

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1960 , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter VII , passage=He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. [...] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four.}}
  • Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
  • They seemed more lay than clerical.
    a lay''' preacher; a '''lay brother
  • (obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
  • Etymology 5

    : See lie

    Verb

    (head)
  • (lie) when pertaining to position.
  • The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
  • (proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).
  • * 1969' July, Bob Dylan, “'''Lay''' Lady '''Lay ”, ''Nashville Skyline , Columbia:
  • Lay', lady, '''lay'''. / ' Lay across my big brass bed.
  • * a.'' 1970 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, ''Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:
  • Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go
  • * 1974 , John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again , RCA:
  • Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.
    Derived terms
    * layabout

    Etymology 6

    From (etyl) lay, from (etyl) . See lake.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
  • 1805' ''The '''Lay of the Last Minstrel , Sir Walter Scott.
    Derived terms
    * layoff

    Etymology 7

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A meadow; a lea.
  • (Dryden)

    Etymology 8

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A law.
  • * Spenser
  • many goodly lays
  • (obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
  • * Holland
  • They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.

    Etymology 9

    .

    Verb

  • To don (put on) (tefillin (gloss)).
  • Statistics

    *

    ball

    English

    (wikipedia ball)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A solid or hollow sphere, or part thereof.
  • # A quantity of string, thread, etc., wound into a spherical shape.
  • # (label) A solid, spherical nonexplosive missile for a cannon, etc.
  • ## A jacketed non-expanding bullet, typically of military origin.
  • # A roundish protuberant portion of some part of the body.
  • # (label) The front of the bottom of the foot, just behind the toes.
  • # The globe; the earthly sphere.
  • #* (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • Move round the dark terrestrial ball .
  • #* 1717 , (Alexander Pope), ""
  • Thus, if eternal Justice rules the ball , / Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall;
  • # (label) The set of points in a metric space lying within a given distance (the radius) of a given point; specifically, the homologue of the disk in a Euclidean space of any number of dimensions.
  • # The set of points in a topological space lying within some open set containing a given point; the analogue of the disk in a Euclidean space.
  • # An object, generally spherical, used for playing games.
  • #* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=3/19/2
  • , passage=Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house?; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something?; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.}}
  • #* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 2, author=Aled Williams, work=BBC Sport Wales
  • , title= Swansea 2-0 Stoke , passage=Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.}}
  • (label) The use of a round or ellipsoidal object.
  • # Any simple game involving a ball.
  • # (label) A pitch that falls outside of the strike zone.
  • # (label) An opportunity to launch the pinball into play.
  • # (label) A single delivery by the bowler, six of which make up an over.
  • # (label) A pass; a kick of the football towards a teammate.
  • #* {{quote-news, year=2010, date=December 29, author=Chris Whyatt, work=BBC
  • , title= Chelsea 1-0 Bolton , passage=After Essien's poor attempt flew into the stands, Rodrigo Moreno - Bolton's on-loan winger from Benfica who was making his full Premier League debut - nearly exposed the Blues with a lovely ball for Johan Elmander, but it just skipped away from his team-mate's toes. }}
  • A testicle.
  • # Nonsense.
  • — Synonyms — See
  • # Courage.
  • A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
  • A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
  • (White)
    Synonyms
    * sphere * globe * (testicle) See * (courage) chutzpah, guts, nerve
    Derived terms
    (solid or hollow sphere) {{der3, ball and chain , ball and socket , ball-barrow , ball bearing/ball-bearing , ball boy/ballboyball-boy , ball-cartridge , ballclay , ballcock , ball-flower , ball-game , ball-girl , ball lightning , ball machine , ball mill , ball of fire , ball of the foot , ball of the thumb , ballpark , ball-player , ballpoint , ball-proof , ball race , ball up , bandy-ball , baseball , basketball , beachball/beach ball , best-ball , billiard ball , blackball , blowball , blueball , brandy-ball , broomball , buckyball , butterball , button-ball , cannonball , coalball , cornball , cricket ball , croquet ball , crystal ball , cue ball , dust-ball , eight ball/eight-ball , eyeball , fastball , fire-ball , fishball , football , four ball , freeball , furball , fuzz-ball , game ball , get the ball rolling , goalball , golf ball , goofball , greaseball , hair-ball , half-ball , hand-ball , hardball , heel-ball , highball , holding the ball , jump ball , keep the ball rolling , kickball , korfball , matzo ball , meatball , medicine ball , , mothball , netball , no ball , object ball , oddball , on the ball , paintball , patball , pinball , ping-pong ball , pithball , play ball , puffball , punchball , push-ball , racquetball , rollerball , root-ball , rugby ball , scuzzball , silver ball , skittle-ball , sleazeball , slimeball , smoke-ball , snooker ball , snowball , soccer ball , softball , speedball , spot the ball , stink ball , stoolball , table-tennis ball , tea ball , tennis ball , tchoukball , the ball is in your court , through ball , time-ball , too many balls in the air , trackball, trackerball , trap-ball , volleyball , washball}} (testicle) {{der3, ball-breaker , ball-breaking , ball-buster , ball-busting , balls-aching , balls up (verb) , balls-up (noun) , ballsy , have someone by the balls , screwball}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To form or wind into a ball.
  • to ball cotton
  • (label) To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
  • To have sexual intercourse with.
  • (label) To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
  • The horse balls'''; the snow '''balls .
  • To be hip or cool.
  • Synonyms
    * (vulgar) bonk, fuck, lay, screw, shag (British)

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (label) An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player. This is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled.
  • 2007: A good tackle (and some bad ones) will bring a cry of "Ball!" from the crowd – a plea for a holding the ball free kick. — AFL Sydney Swans Rules Zone [http://www.afl.com.au/FanZone/Rules/tabid/7892/Default.aspx]

    Etymology 2

    (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A formal dance.
  • (label) A very enjoyable time.
  • Synonyms
    * (very enjoyable time) blast, whale of a time
    Derived terms
    {{der3, ball-dress , ballgown , ballroom , have a ball , hunt ball , masked ball , open the ball}}