jump shot

American  

noun

Basketball.

1. a shot with one or both hands in which a player leaps into the air and shoots the ball at the basket at the moment of reaching the highest point of the leap.

---

jump shot British  

noun

1. basketball a shot at the basket made by a player releasing the ball at the highest point of a leap

---

Etymology

Origin of jump shot

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

He’s revived a weapon driven to extinction by the analytical addiction to the 3-pointer: the midrange jump shot.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

James scored on a jump shot just seconds into the third quarter and the route continued.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2026

And Flagg then missed a potential tying 20-foot jump shot in the game's final action, to end his record-breaking night on a bittersweet note.

From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026

As a kid, he had a pretty good jump shot, and by 2017 was playing as a guard for Macalester College’s Division III basketball team in St. Paul.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 22, 2025

Sometimes, Pop would park his wheelchair at the end of the driveway and sip a beer as he watched me perfect my jump shot.

From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick