ball and chain

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Each custom bottle label sported a picture of a cabbage chained to a foot, like a ball and chain, and the words “Brine & Punishment,” a reference to Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment.”

From New York Times

“I understand the argument which says that a grade less than 50 percent is a ball and chain on their grade and may lead students to give up.”

From Washington Post

We now know that the relationship we have with our means of communication is more complicated, that our phones have become less of a release than a perpetual ball and chain.

From New York Times

Along with displays of the ball and chain that is incorporated into the museum’s logo, a controversial artifact is “Old Sparky,” the decommissioned electric chair that was in operation between 1924 and 1964.

From Washington Post

Playing up to his criminal past, he attended one photoshoot at the club wearing a mock prison uniform with a fake ball and chain tied around his ankle.

From BBC