tipoff

[ tip-awf, -of ]

noun

, Basketball.

1. a jump ball that begins each period.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tipoff¹

First recorded in 1910–15; tip ⁴ + (kick)off

Example Sentences

That April, while in Miami and just a few hours before tip-off for Philly’s second-to-last game of the season, then-Sixers head coach Brett Brown called his medical and training staff into a meeting.

From FiveThirtyEight

Star guard Bradley Beal missed Washington’s loss to the Miami Heat at Capital One Arena on Saturday after being pulled off the court an hour before tip-off because of contact tracing, but returned to play in a win over Phoenix on Monday.

From Washington Post

The Bucks, who played host to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, took the court like usual and claimed the opening tip-off.

From Washington Post

In anticipation of tip-off, FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR projections are back too … and we’ve made some adjustments to improve our forecasts going forward.

From FiveThirtyEight

Hundreds of games have been postponed or canceled, some of them within hours of tip-off after teams already were on-site.

From Washington Post

I assume he thinks Chuck Taylors are still as the sneaker of choice and supports the idea of grabbing a quick smoke before tipoff.

From The Daily Beast

Now a senior Iraqi official tells The Daily Beast that in fact there was no Libyan tipoff.

From The Daily Beast

The tipoff on Tuesday was the venue for the press conference.

From The Daily Beast

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney went at it from the opening tipoff over who had the best record of creating jobs.

From The Daily Beast

W R wouldnt part with half a C for a tipoff on the Secondcoming.

From Project Gutenberg