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

But Gafford is benefiting from recent alley-oop connections with Cooper Flagg, Khris Middleton and Brandon Williams, who tossed a perfect lob over two Hawks defenders Sunday. —Mike Curtis, Dallas Morning News, 11 Mar. 2026

There’s also Jonathan Fox, a high-motor athlete who recently made national headlines with a 360 alley-oop dunk, and Kameron Price, a pesky guard who welcomes the toughest defensive assignments, facilitates while taking care of the basketball and rebounds well for his size. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Mar. 2026

That stretch included a go-ahead three by Tyler Herro, a Herro alley-oop to Kel’el Ware for a dunk and a Bam Adebayo jumper, putting Miami ahead 115-108. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 Mar. 2026

Wembanyama blocked Kris Dunn's reverse layup, creating a fast break that ended with an alley-oop dunk by Carter Bryant. —CBS News, 7 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

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!