balling

1. (poultry) The accumulation of soil on the feet of a bird, a process that eventually leads to infection.Examples: "the amount of milk sugar in the diet will be sufficiently high to produce flushing or at least a "balling" of the droppings on the feet of the birds."; "I was once told by a well-known naturalist that the balling of partridges was a wise provision of nature for the dissemination of seeds , and by its aid plants are introduced to fresh ground ; but this is poor comfort to the man who sees his coveys gradually becoming fewer ."; "Keeping the brooder and run clean and well sanded does away with the troublesome balling of the feet ."countableuncountable

2. (beekeeping) An incident when worker bees surround a queen bee, usually leading to her death by suffocation or starvation.Examples: "Balling of queens seems to be relatively common in some strains of bee."; "The balling behaviour of workers has been explained by a "stress pheromone" hyphothesis: a disturbed queen produces a "stress pheromone" that stimulates an attack on her (balling) and her own death."; "The poetic fancy of Maeterlinck who, while he admits that "bees are not sentimental," will not allow the possibility of individual disloyalty in the hive, attributes the balling of the queen to a law which "invests her person, whoever she be, with a sort of inviolability," and prohibits the direct assault of any one bee:."countableuncountable

3. (African-American Vernacular, slang) Synonym of sexual intercourse.Examples: "A very wise girl named Amaryllis once said to me "I like cuffing, but I don't want a boy who will swerk me just for the glory of it." Balling is something people do together too."; "Sometimes balling just seems to be something that you just want to get over with, so you can start talking, but the man always leaves."; "You know the bond, the thing that tied us up together was surfing and dope and balling [sex]."Synonyms: sexual intercoursecountableslanguncountable