A dry ball is used to imply, a ball without supper.

Carter swallowed what felt like a large dry ball of lint.

But the key for us was the firm ground and the dry ball, he said.

Scrape off the outer crust, and the inside will be found to be a dry ball.

With the hoped-for, clean, dry ball and the sun on their backs, conditions could hardly be more favourable for today's new dawn.

"I'll move out," he said, and every word was like spitting out a dry ball of lint.