noun

• 1A bearing in which the parts are separated by a ring of small freely rotating metal balls which reduce friction.

  ‘Typical coefficient of friction for a ball bearing is about mu = 1.5e - 3’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The following week, I almost dropped a large metal ball bearing onto it, which would have shattered it.’
  • ‘Daytona uses bushings instead of the ball bearing pivots of the upper-tier Campagnolo shifters, which allow for lighter control feel.’
  • ‘For twice the price of the cheap metal wheel, they had a plastic model with a ball bearing.’
  • ‘The ball bearing increases the thrust load capacity of the turbo.’
  • ‘The bolt design uses a ball bearing detent for the firing pin assembly.’
  • ‘Within the top of the device is a ball bearing which sits on a piece of metal with a tiny hole in it.’
  • ‘‘What we did to the atom is something like lubricating a ball bearing so that less force is required to move it,’ says Joseph Stroscio, co-author of the Science paper.’
  • ‘The problem was a ball bearing at Indianapolis; Johnson admits he missed a gear at Watkins Glen, which did irreparable damage to the transmission, and a valve spring broke at Michigan.’
  • ‘The single ball bearing / sleeve bearing fan rated at 5500 rpm, give or take 10%, and can provide 10.6 CFM of airflow.’
  • ‘Swivels should be of the very best quality, and the Sampo ball bearing swivel in the 500 lb breaking strain size is perhaps the best that is readily available.’
  • ‘Previous to my last trip to Germany, I'd become familiar with a strange phenomenon involving a magnetized ball bearing and a piece of copper or aluminum tubing.’
  • ‘Who knows, maybe Rondeau will turn out to be as sharp as a ball bearing.’
  • ‘Like its brother, a ball bearing is used inside the fan, and the same accessory pack is included.’
  • ‘The good news is that the fan uses a ball bearing instead of a sleeve bearing.’
  • ‘The advantage of these is that in a ball bearing the contact areas are quite small.’
  • ‘Two ball bearing units are used instead of bushings to provide German-precision, short-throw shifting action.’
  • ‘I used to have the old Goofy Foot, with the ball bearing wheels.’
  • ‘Most recently, it shut down in March after a ball bearing at its base failed.’
  • ‘The metal-to-metal contact in a ball bearing motor produces vibration and noise, and is less forgiving of shock loads.’

  1. 1.1A metal ball used in a ball bearing.
     ‘She ricocheted down the street like a ball bearing in a pinball machine, feeling tiny and insignificant among the large and imposing aliens - a feeling she had never felt before, being a princess on her home planet.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘If you shake the can, the rattling ball bearing helps to mix up the propellant and the product, so the product is pushed out in a fine mist.’
     • ‘I have never been able to significantly magnetize a ball bearing, so I'd guess that they are usually made of a rather ‘soft’ (low carbon) steel.’
     • ‘Because candy or iron are the traditional presents for a couple's sixth anniversary, Diesel sent out the invitation in a test tube with a ball bearing and a jawbreaker.’
     • ‘So in theory, an atom dropped down the exact centre of a vertical metal pipe should reach a terminal velocity as it ploughs through the viscous quantum vacuum, just like a ball bearing dropped into oil.’
     • ‘The trigger is like a ball bearing on glass - rolling smooth.’
     • ‘Upon closer examination, he saw a flying ball bearing or silver sphere.’
     • ‘The action proved smoother than a greased ball bearing on ice with perfect feed and ejection.’
     • ‘Loosening up, she moves on to the pool, coasting like a ball bearing around its high rims, grabbing a little air when the fancy strikes her.’
     • ‘A ball bearing placed inside falls and triggers the cartridge if it is disturbed.’
     • ‘It left a 9.5mm ball bearing, possibly fired by a catapult or gas-powered gun, embedded under 16-year-old Nathan Gould's right eye.’
     • ‘‘The cat had an operation involving the removal of an eyeball because there was a ball bearing inside the eye socket,’ said Mr Thomas.’
     • ‘Once you put a coin in, and pulled the lever, a ball bearing would hurtle around some sort of track, and depending where it ended up, determined what sort of prize, if any, you won.’
     • ‘In one recent case in Merseyside a man was left paralysed after being shot in the spine by a ball bearing from a BB gun.’
     • ‘Police confirmed that a ball bearing, or BB, gun had been discharged inside the store.’
     • ‘A cyclist was fired at in a ball bearing gun drive-by shooting in Colchester.’
     • ‘One boy has been charged with assault after a Warneford School caretaker was shot in the back with a ball bearing gun.’
     • ‘Officers also found a ball bearing gun while searching a vehicle at a police checkpoint in Regent's Park yesterday evening.’
     • ‘He said: ‘All I know is that police believe it was a ball bearing gun that was used, not a real gun.’’
     • ‘A man later gave himself up to police, who recovered a ball bearing gun.’