basketball
Americannoun
-
basketballs
plural
noun
-
a game played by two opposing teams of five men (or six women) each, usually on an indoor court. Points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal metal hoop
-
the inflated ball used in this game
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of basketball
Explanation
Basketball is a team sport in which players work together to bounce a ball down the length of a court and throw it through a hoop. Some college basketball games are hugely popular and very competitive. In basketball, two teams of five players collaborate to score points by successfully throwing the ball — also called a basketball — through the nets that hang from hoops at either end of the court. The game was invented in 1891, and the word basketball first appeared in print the next year, from basket and ball.
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.
See Examples For:
Leonard is a sublime basketball player when he’s healthy enough to play, but he’s not a charismatic personality or a historically in-demand spokesperson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The NBA’s punishment of the Clippers also includes suspensions of the organization’s presidents of business operations and basketball operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
I wore basketball shorts and T-shirts and I wanted to skateboard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Or from locking up Mick Cronin through 2030, even though UCLA’s prickly basketball coach embarrasses the university annually and hasn’t reached a Sweet 16 since 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
If ever there was a guy who lives and breathes basketball, it’s Legend.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Specs can digitize a chess board, provide AR-guided training for shooting basketballs and even highlight the coolant reservoir under the hood of a car, according to videos and photos online.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
He checks the old office where he borrowed basketballs as a kid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
There I was, dribbling basketballs like a Globetrotter, diving through inter-dimensional portals, riding on the back of a galloping dinosaur in an explosive train heist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
Not that Hudson herself isn’t juggling a number of metaphorical basketballs at all times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Plenty of players had their basketballs ricochet off their knees or sneakers.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
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.
