Phrase guide

ball boy

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A person, usually male, responsible for retrieving balls from the area of play, and returning them to the players.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a boy who retrieves balls for tennis players

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: male child, boy

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: aplegapilotes — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Chinese Mandarin: 球童 (qiútóng) — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Danish: bolddreng — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Dutch: ballenjongen — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Finnish: pallopoika — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • French: ramasseur de balles — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • German: Ballbub — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • German: Balljunge — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Hungarian: labdaszedő — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Hungarian: labdaszedő fiú — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Italian: raccattapalle — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Japanese: ボールボーイ (bōru bōi) — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Japanese: ボールパーソン (bōru pāson) — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Korean: 볼보이 (bolboi) — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ballgutt — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ballgut — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Polish: chłopiec do piłek — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Portuguese: boleiro — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Portuguese: gandula — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Russian: болбо́й (bolbój) — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Spanish: recogepelotas — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Spanish: recogebolas — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Swedish: bollkalle — A male person responsible for retrieving balls
  • Swedish: bollpojke — A male person responsible for retrieving balls