basketball

noun

bas·​ket·​ball ˈba-skit-ˌbȯl 

often attributive

: a usually indoor court game between two teams of usually five players each who score by tossing an inflated ball through a raised goal

also : the ball used in this game

Examples of basketball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Parker originally joined the Warner sports outlet in 2019 as an NBA analyst and commentator who also worked during the company’s coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025

The game asks you to take a Switch 2 Joy-Con in each hand, turn them both so the narrow edge lies on a flat-ish surface, and then slide them around to power a game of full-contact wheelchair basketball. —Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2025

Kids could learn how to hit a baseball, or to fly a kite—or to fish or to play wheelchair basketball. —Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2025

The eventual sale will refocus basketball at the center of the family’s sports investments as the Reinsdorfs are expected to retain ownership of the Bulls and the United Center for the foreseeable future. —Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing basketball

• fantasy football/baseball/basketball

Rhymes for basketball

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol
• guaiacol

Kids Definition

basketball

noun

bas·​ket·​ball -ˌbȯl 

: a court game in which each of two teams tries to toss an inflated ball through a raised goal

also : the ball used in this game