airball

1 of 2

verb

air·​ball ˈer-ˌbȯl 

variants or air-ball

airballed or air-balled; airballing or air-balling; airballs or air-balls

transitive + intransitive

US, basketball

: to completely miss the rim and backboard with a shot : to shoot an air ball

Fesenko … badly airballed a free throw in the first quarter.

—Ross Siler

air ball

2 of 2

noun

variants or airball

ˈer-ˌbȯl 

plural air balls or airballs

US, basketball

: a shot that completely misses the rim and backboard

Examples of airball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

If the ball is spinning, the tiny air balls don’t just bounce off; they also get dragged along in the direction of rotation. — Rhett Allain, Wired News, 13 June 2026

From forcing multiple air balls and shot-clock violations, Baylor had no answer for TCU’s defense. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 Mar. 2026

Silver will probably address the new All-Star Game format, after admitting that the 2025 rework was an air ball. — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026

Westbrook against Minnesota finished with 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, with the last rebound coming off an air ball just before the game clock ticked to zero in the fourth quarter. — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 15 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1966, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1966, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for airball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale