full-court press

[fool-kawrt, -kohrt]

noun

1. Basketball.,  a tactic of harassing, close-guarding defense in which the team without the ball pressures the opponent man-to-man the entire length of the court in order to disrupt dribbling or passing and force a turnover.

   Suddenly behind by eighteen points, they went to a full-court press.

2. a vigorous attack or offensive.

full-court press

noun

1. basketball the tactic of harrying the opposing team in all areas of the court, as opposed to the more usual practice of trying to defend one's own basket

Idioms and Phrases

An all-out effort to exert pressure. For example, She'd learned over the years how to deliver a full-court press of guilt. The term alludes to a basketball tactic in which the defenders put pressure on the opposing team over the entire court, trying to disrupt their dribbling and passing. [Late 1900s]

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