noun
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a game in which two teams hit a large ball back and forth over a high net with their hands
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the ball used in this game
Etymology
Origin of volleyball
Explanation
Interested in playing a team sport? Consider volleyball, a game in which players use their arms and hands to hit a ball across a net, trying to keep the ball in the air. Teams score a point when the volleyball hits the floor on their opponent's side. There are two ways to play volleyball: in a gym and outside in the sand, a style known as beach volleyball. The indoor version requires six players per team, while the beach style has two players per side. Volleyball is a serious sport (it's even played in the Olympics), but you can also play for fun at a picnic or at the beach. Volleyball was invented in the late 1800s, right around the time basketball was first catching on.
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.
City Section championships for boys volleyball on Friday and Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
Get ready for the best high school boys’ volleyball action in the nation on Saturday when four powers face off in the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2026
Ruby Cochrane and Olga Nikolaeva epitomized the mindset Mira Costa brought to Saturday afternoon’s Southern Section Division 1 girls’ beach volleyball championship match at Long Beach City College.
From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2026
As for his volleyball coach, he appreciated Aghassy giving access to his phone for just a few minutes and apologizes for disrupting his speech.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Later we played volleyball against another squad and won.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
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.
