jump ball

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noun Basketball.

a ball tossed into the air above and between two opposing players by the referee in putting the ball into play.

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Origin of jump ball

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby jump ball

Jumna, jump, jump all over someone, jump at, jump bail, jump ball, jump bid, jump boot, jump cut, jump dial, jump discontinuity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jump ball in a sentence

With Washington up one and less than a minute to play, forward Rui Hachimura got in Jimmy Butler’s face, fought for a rebound and ended up with a jump ball.
Wizards rise to their own defense, beat the Heat on the road|Ava Wallace|February 4, 2021|Washington Post
There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be prepared every game, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be ready to go as soon as the jump ball’s in the air.
Wizards close the year with another loss, fall to 0-5|Ava Wallace|January 1, 2021|Washington Post
The collection includes kimono capes and hand woven jump overalls.
The Photographer Who Gave Up Manhattan for Marrakech|Liza Foreman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
One of the kids had a ball in his hand, and Cuomo took it and tossed it back and forth to an eight year old.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Instead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If the ball gets in the hole, the screen shifts to reveal the next hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The sound of my step shall make your heart jump; a look from me shall make you dumb for an hour.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
We haven't even seen a review of the piece; the footlights go up with a jump, and now the curtain rises.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
A view of the duchess's ball-room, or of the dining-table of the earl, will supersede all occasion for lengthy fiddle-faddle.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
And it did not take Squinty long to learn to jump the rope when there was no apple on the other side.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum

British Dictionary definitions for jump ball

jump ball

noun

basketball a ball thrown high by the referee between two opposing players to put it in play, as after a stoppage in which no foul or violation was committed

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012