double-team
Americanverb (used with object)
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to defend against or block (an opposing player) by using two players, as in football or basketball.
By double-teaming the end the safety men left the other receiver in the open.
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to use two people in the handling of.
The company is double-teaming the more complicated jobs with both a scientist and a group manager.
Etymology
Origin of double-team
An Americanism dating back to 1835–45
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.
“If they double-team him it leaves someone else open. We all took our turns.”
From Los Angeles Times
“I was getting double-teamed a lot so I got a little tired but as a squad we’re playing real tough teams right now,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
He had his sixth consecutive 30-point game with 34 points Sunday, adding seven assists, 12 rebounds and just two turnovers despite being double-teamed nearly every time he had the ball.
From Los Angeles Times
She not only racks up the big numbers, she makes everyone around her better, the Trojans connecting on several wide-open shots Monday night in plays concocted by the double-teamed Watkins.
From Los Angeles Times
“We trapped him. We double-teamed him. We flew around behind him.”
From Seattle Times
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.
