19th-century British slang, recorded in flash/cant dictionaries, meaning to depart quickly or at speed — possibly alluding to a cannonball or fast-rolling ball. Register is breezy and colloquial; used to express sudden, energetic departure.
When the constable rounded the corner, the whole gang balled it off down the alley.
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(slang, dated) (to leave at a particular speed).
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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