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Definition of Ball and chain
1. Noun. Heavy iron ball attached to a prisoner by a chain.
Definition of Ball and chain
1. Noun. A heavy iron ball attached to a prisoner's leg by a chain as a means of restraint. ¹
2. Noun. (slang) One's wife, as a symbol of restraint. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Ball And Chain
Literary usage of Ball and chain
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Men of Our Times; Or, Leading Patriots of the Day: Being Narratives of the by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1868)
"... Laws of Kansas—The Ball and Chain for Free Speech—Mr Colfax Shows the Ball,
and AH Stephens Holds it for him—Mr. Colfax ..."
2. Hard Tack and Coffee: Or the Unwritten Story of Army Life (2001)
"... punishments were affixed, as no two commanding officers had just the same
violations of military discipline to deal with, — but I shall ball and chain. ..."
3. Molecular Neurobiology: Proceedings of the Second Nimh Conference by Steven Zalcman (1995)
"Comparison to the Predictions of the Ball-and-Chain Model of Inactivation of
Shaker K+ Channels Treatment of the cytoplasmic surface of Na+ channels with ..."
4. The Lives and Deeds of Our Self-made Men by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1872)
"... Great Speech on . the Bogus Laws of Kansas—The Ball and Chain for Free Speech—Mr.
Colfax Shows the Ball, and AH Stephens Holds it for him—Mr. Colfax ..."
5. Military Law by William Winthrop (1886)
"Ball and Chain. This punishment, still recognized as legal by the Army
Regulations, (par. 896,) has been adjudged in sentences from an early period, ..."
6. Hardtack and Coffee: Or, The Unwritten Story of Army Life, Including by John Davis Billings (1887)
"... punishments were affixed, as no two commanding officers had just the same
violations of military discipline to deal with, — but I shall ball and chain. ..."
7. Negroes and Their Treatment in Virginia from 1865 to 1867 by John Preston McConnell (1910)
"authorized by the justice, to work said vagrant, confined with ball and chain;
or should said hirer decline to receive again said vagrant, then said vagrant ..."
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