full-court press

American  

[fool-kawrt, -kohrt] / ˈfʊlˌkɔrt, -ˌkoʊrt /

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 British  

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

---

full-court press Idioms  

1. 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]

---

Example Sentences

At the Orthodox level, this practice can be full-court press, what with kosher-keeping, tefillin-laying, a regular round of daily prayer, Talmudic study and more.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Bancorp and they are making a full-court press to reduce their exposure by selling the debt to investors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025

Mainers aren’t sure what this full-court press will mean for their state; keeping up with it is hard enough.

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2025

He also showed the ability to score in a variety of other ways, including a layup after breaking the full-court press.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

The sauna and the steam room and the Hall of Champions won’t break a full-court press or bury a shot at the buzzer.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2024

Related Words

• adversity
• burden
• constraint
• force
• hardship
• heat
• influence
• power
• strain
• stress
• tension
• trouble
• weight