basketballnoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈbɑː.skɪt.bɔːl/us/ˈbæs.kət.bɑːl/A1 (a ball used in) a game played by two teams of five players who score points by throwing a large ball through an open net hanging from a metal ring
Examples
- Do you play any other sports besides football and basketball?
- The men's basketball final will be on Sunday.
- The sports centre has a basketball court and two squash courts.
- People keep trying to persuade him to take up basketball because he's so tall and athletic.
- The sports shop stocks basketballs, nets, rings and various other basketball equipment.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Basketball, netball & volleyball
- airball
- backboard
- basket
- beach volleyball
- center circle
- double-team
- dunk
- free throw
- game ball
- inbounds pass
- netball
- shoot
- slam dunk
- spike
- volleyball
Examples from literature
- Earl Boykins is a professional basketball player in the NBA – and he’s only 1.65 meters tall and weighs 60 kilograms.
- It gives balls – basketballs, tennis balls, even golf balls – their bounce.
- It tells the story of Conroy’s love for basketball.
- Other balls such as basketballs and soccer balls contain a rubber bladder – an airtight pocket – full of compressed air.
- Soccer, basketball, tennis, and other sports now attract more spectators.
- What are their chances of becoming professional athletes in one of these team sports: baseball, basketball, hockey, or American football?
- When we hear the word “sport,” we usually think of football, basketball, the Olympic Games, and things like that.
- A student in one of our Church schools was once heard to say, "My teacher teaches me more religion by the way he plays basketball than by theway he teaches theology."
- I am just as enthusiastic over basketball as ever, only I haven't had the time to devote to it that I did last year.
- I know it, replied Grace, "but after Thanksgiving we'll only meet once in two weeks, for I must get my basketball team in shape, and you see all the members belong to the society."
- There are two girls on the sophomore and three on the freshman team whose basketball ardor will have to cool until after the mid-year exams.