tetherball

[teth-er-bawl]

noun

1. a game for two persons, in which each player, standing on each side of a post from the top of which a ball is suspended by a cord, hits the ball with the hand or a paddle in a direction opposite to that in which the other player hits it, the object being to coil the cord completely around the post.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetherball¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; tether + ball ¹

Example Sentences

"America, get ready for a historically long recess. I call tetherball."

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But there are clues: Watch how furiously Charles plays tetherball when no one is looking.

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“You didn’t recognize me in front of tetherball, and you broke my ChapStick that one time, so that’s the totality of Robbin’s bullying experience.”

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At recess the cool kids play tetherball, which it turns out I’m sort of okay at.

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In college, he said, he could get away with blocking a defensive lineman up and around the pocket — known as “tetherball technique” — but he can’t count on that in the NFL.

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