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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
His love for volleyball dates back to his time in Canada as a young boy playing with his brothers in their massive grassy backyard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The couple met briefly while playing at various beach volleyball events, but they really got to know each other and clicked while spending three weeks together during tournaments in China, India and the Philippines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
After three seasons at LSU, Rodriguez moved to California to begin her beach volleyball career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Just like surfing, if he put his mind to it, he’d get good at volleyball, but for now, football is the focus for him and his family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
He noticed a beach volleyball court complete with sand.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
The real-life adaptation, created by students in the United States in 2005, is equally fast-paced and sees so-called chasers trying to throw quaffles - semi-deflated volleyballs - through the opposition's hoops.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2025
Comical as it is at times to watch 300-pound linemen lunge for volleyballs, the drill has a purpose.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 3, 2022
The beach court is shorter than the indoor one, and beach volleyballs are bigger, softer and lighter for more air time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2022
Officials in gloves sanitize the volleyballs, wipe down the table tennis surface and spray down the corners of the boxing rings.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2021
A few of the kids have decided to kick off their weekends by hurling volleyballs at the giant clock.
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
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.
