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ballgame definition

☆ ball·game (bôl′gām′)

noun

  1. a game played with a ball; specif., a baseball game
  2. any contest
  3. Informal a set of circumstances a different ballgame
ballgame Idioms

(whole) new ballgame

Etymology: ? from use in baseball, as when a score has become tied

Informal
a situation changed so drastically as to need new approaches or solutions

the (whole) ballgame

Informal
the main or decisive factor, event, etc.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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