alley-oop

American  

[al-ee-oop] / ˈæl iˈup /

interjection

1. (used as a shout of encouragement, exhortation, or the like, especially when coordinating efforts to lift a heavy object.)

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noun

1. Basketball. a quick-score play in which a high, arching pass is made to a teammate close to the basket, who leaps to catch the ball and in midair drops or stuffs it through the basket.

Etymology

Origin of alley-oop

First recorded in 1915–20; from French allez-hop; allez, imperative of aller “to go” + hop, variant of houp, an interjection of expressive origin; cf. alley ¹ ( def. ), hoopla ( def. )

Explanation

An alley-oop is a collaborative play in basketball, when one player passes the ball and the other jumps, catches, and dunks it before landing back on the court. If your team wants to impress its fans, you should practice perfecting the alley-oop. The offensive move is fun to watch and always surprising, requiring excellent timing and teamwork. Alley-oop comes from the cry of a French circus acrobat, allez hop!. The term was first used in American sports to describe a high pass, catch, and touchdown by the 1950 San Francisco 49ers, but it was soon adopted by basketball players to name the brand new play.

Example Sentences

Alley oop wallrides, fakie smiths, fakie walltaps, barspin-to-walltaps, several icepicks and fufanus all the way up top, icepicks-to-x-ups, a icepick-to-barspin, a barspin-to-fufanu, and even an attempt at a tailwhip-to-double peg.

From Time Magazine Archive