noun
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a game in which two teams hit a large ball back and forth over a high net with their hands
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the ball used in this game
Etymology
Origin of volleyball
Explanation
Interested in playing a team sport? Consider volleyball, a game in which players use their arms and hands to hit a ball across a net, trying to keep the ball in the air. Teams score a point when the volleyball hits the floor on their opponent's side. There are two ways to play volleyball: in a gym and outside in the sand, a style known as beach volleyball. The indoor version requires six players per team, while the beach style has two players per side. Volleyball is a serious sport (it's even played in the Olympics), but you can also play for fun at a picnic or at the beach. Volleyball was invented in the late 1800s, right around the time basketball was first catching on.
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.
However, League One Volleyball, known as LOVB, is still operating and has nine teams, including one joining the L.A. market in 2027.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
Steven van de Velde, 31, was due to play at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide, South Australia, next month.
From BBC • Oct. 27, 2025
In recent years the country has staged a Basketball World Cup, a Volleyball World Championship and the Southeast Asian Games.
From Barron's • Oct. 25, 2025
Anderson admits he is “kind of a recluse in a lot of ways,” but the six-time USA Volleyball male indoor player of the year considers Speraw a friend.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2024
And in Volleyball, I had to finish all the scuff marks I’d missed on my side of the floor.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
