basketball
Americannoun
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basketballs
plural
noun
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a game played by two opposing teams of five men (or six women) each, usually on an indoor court. Points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal metal hoop
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the inflated ball used in this game
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of basketball
Explanation
Basketball is a team sport in which players work together to bounce a ball down the length of a court and throw it through a hoop. Some college basketball games are hugely popular and very competitive. In basketball, two teams of five players collaborate to score points by successfully throwing the ball — also called a basketball — through the nets that hang from hoops at either end of the court. The game was invented in 1891, and the word basketball first appeared in print the next year, from basket and ball.
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.
See Examples For:
The self-confessed NBA fanatic - inspired by LeBron James' live show by the same name in 2010, when the basketball star joined the Miami Heat - was attempting to own his narrative.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The company is working on a deal to create two distinct public entities to manage its hockey and championship-winning basketball teams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
He likened it to referees betting on the outcome of a basketball game.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Player salaries are capped, but ownership’s resources matter much in terms of creating a competitive infrastructure of coaches, basketball operations, medical and scouting staffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Michael half waved back and motioned toward the basketball on the floor, behind the couch.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Specs can digitize a chess board, provide AR-guided training for shooting basketballs and even highlight the coolant reservoir under the hood of a car, according to videos and photos online.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
There I was, dribbling basketballs like a Globetrotter, diving through inter-dimensional portals, riding on the back of a galloping dinosaur in an explosive train heist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
His peers could dunk basketballs and had mustaches; he was in eighth grade but had barely hit puberty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
"Some of the ones we have been to this year are as big as basketballs, or bigger."
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2024
So I tell her I’m sorry, it won’t happen again, then head off to my next class.Gym class is supposed to be about balls: volleyballs, basketballs, softballs, soccer balls—sometimes sit-ups and always sweat.
From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
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.
