alley-oop

noun

al·​ley-oop ˌa-lē-ˈyüp 

plural alley-oops

1

basketball : a play in which a leaping player catches a pass above the basket and immediately dunks the ball

The meeting of man and ball was dazzling, the two handed alley-oop slam-dunk spectacular.

—Shelly Smith

also : the usually high, arcing pass thrown on such a play

He threw an alley-oop to George Lynch on a fast break …

—The New York Times

2

American football : a play in which the quarterback throws a high, arcing pass into the end zone to be caught by a leaping receiver

Quarterback Moore hooked up with receiver Moore on one of their patented alley-oops to make the score 20-7.

—Austin Murphy

also : the pass itself

… an alley-oop pass to Chandler from Manning gave the Saints a 13-7 lead.

—Larry McMillen

… he … tossed an alley-oop to Tate Casey for the first touchdown pass of his college career.

—USA Today

alley-oop verb, transitive + intransitive

alley-ooped; alley-ooping; alley-oops

… they dribbled around us, passed behind their backs, and alley-ooped for a bunch of slam dunks.

—D. J. MacHale

Rob alley-ooped the ball toward the basket.

—Stanley Gordon West

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Flacco basically alley-ooped a pass from the 7, and Heap outmuscled safety Tyrone Carter for the ball in the rear right corner of the end zone.

—Edward Lee

Examples of alley-oop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Illinois didn't let off the gas in the second half, stretching the lead to 23 with 10 minutes remaining after Mirkovic came up with a steal and fed Zvonimir Ivisic for a transition alley-oop dunk. —CBS News, 20 Mar. 2026

James ascended for one last alley-oop dunk in the fourth before Doncic’s final 3-pointer, to show not just Durant, but the Rockets, who was king in Houston on Wednesday. —Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 19 Mar. 2026

Meanwhile Fears and Coen Carr seem to have a near preternatural connection, the guard intuitively understanding when and where Carr would like an alley-oop feed at the rim. —Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026

The Lakers led by 4 with about 90 seconds remaining when Doncic found James for an alley-oop dunk. —ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

alteration of allez-oop, cry of a circus acrobat about to leap, probably from French allez, 2nd person plural imperative of aller to go + English -oop, perhaps alteration of up

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for alley-oop

• intergroup
• intragroup
• multigroup
• semigroup
• serogroup
• supergroup
• coop
• coupe
• croup
• droop
• drupe
• dupe

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