basketball

American  

[bas-kit-bawl, bah-skit-] / ˈbæs kɪtˌbɔl, ˈbɑ skɪt- /

noun

• basketballs
  plural

1. 

   a game played by two teams of usually five players each on a rectangular court having a raised basket or goal at each end, points being scored by tossing the ball through the opponent's basket.

2. the round, inflated ball approximately 30 inches (76 centimeters) in circumference, used in this game.

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basketball British  

/ ˈbɑːskɪtˌbɔːl /

noun

1. 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

2. the inflated ball used in this game

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• probasketball
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• basketballs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of basketball

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95; basket + ball ¹

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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

See Examples For:

basketball basketballs

It’s difficult to look at the caps in football, basketball and hockey and not think they have competitive value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

For Ball, the listing comes amid a significant transition in his professional basketball career.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

Then you can open up your fancy new Duo and watch your hometown team play for its first-ever women’s pro basketball championship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

You have to let him cook, your very own basketball anarchist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026

He attended an informational meeting to find out about seventh-grade basketball tryouts.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

Other sports have made accommodations for female body types, such as lower sprint hurdles in athletics or lighter and smaller basketballs.

From BBC ● May 6, 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

Not that Hudson herself isn’t juggling a number of metaphorical basketballs at all times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025

There were footballs and basketballs lying all over the place, and boys sliding down the banister and leaping over tables and talking with their mouths full and interrupting everyone with endless questions.

From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech

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Related Words

• ball

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