witch ball

See also: witchball

English

Alternative forms

• witchball
• witch-ball

Noun

witch ball (plural witch balls)

1. A hollow sphere of plain or stained glass hung in windows in 18th-century England to ward off evil spirits, witches' spells or ill fortune.
   • 1965, Ruth E. St. Leger-Gordon, Witchcraft and Folklore of Dartmoor, page xviii. 156:

     To prevent the possibility of over-looking, it was only necessary to direct the glance elsewhere. This intention lay behind the coloured glass "witch-balls" hung in cottage windows; the garlands of flowers or bright berried branches nailed above the stable and cowshed doors or placed around the necks of cattle. [...] All were in the nature of red herrings to attract this important first glance.

Anagrams

• watch bill