"hardball" meaning in English

See hardball in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /hɑːdˈbɔːl/ [UK], /hɑrdˈbɔl/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav [US] Forms: hardball [positive], more hardball [comparative], most hardball [superlative]
Etymology: hard + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|hard|ball}} hard + ball Head templates: {{adj|more=true}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If a person has a hardball behavior, they exhibit tough or ruthless behavior.
    Sense id: simple-hardball-en-adj-OeJbLRTk

Noun

IPA: /hɑːdˈbɔːl/ [UK], /hɑrdˈbɔl/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav [US] Forms: hardball [singular], hardballs [plural]
Etymology: hard + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|hard|ball}} hard + ball Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. A hardball is a tough or ruthless behavior.
    Sense id: simple-hardball-en-noun-o5h13nQS

Verb

IPA: /hɑːdˈbɔːl/ [UK], /hɑrdˈbɔl/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav [US] Forms: hardball [canonical], hardballs [third-person, singular], hardballed [past], hardballed [past, participle], hardballing [present, participle]
Etymology: hard + ball Etymology templates: {{compound|hard|ball}} hard + ball Head templates: {{verb}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If a person hardballs, they exhibit tough and ruthless behavior towards others.
    Sense id: simple-hardball-en-verb-wec4DkBg Categories (other): Colloquial
{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A hardball is a tough or ruthless behavior."
      ],
      "id": "simple-hardball-en-noun-o5h13nQS"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more hardball",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hardball",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "more": "true"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "If a person has a hardball behavior, they exhibit tough or ruthless behavior."
      ],
      "id": "simple-hardball-en-adj-OeJbLRTk"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}

{
  "categories": [],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballs",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Colloquial",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If a person hardballs, they exhibit tough and ruthless behavior towards others."
      ],
      "id": "simple-hardball-en-verb-wec4DkBg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A hardball is a tough or ruthless behavior."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "more hardball",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most hardball",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "more": "true"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "If a person has a hardball behavior, they exhibit tough or ruthless behavior."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Compound terms"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hard",
        "2": "ball"
      },
      "expansion": "hard + ball",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "hard + ball",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hardball",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballs",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hardballing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Colloquial",
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If a person hardballs, they exhibit tough and ruthless behavior towards others."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑːdˈbɔːl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/hɑrdˈbɔl/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-hardball.wav",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hardball"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-29 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.