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

For the second time this season, Collins High School boys basketball coach Chris Gaither has been suspended with pay while Shelby County Public Schools conducts an investigation. —Rich Barak, Louisville Courier Journal, 14 Dec. 2025

Bowman is a former student of the school and played basketball there. —Arkansas Online, 13 Dec. 2025

Sanderson, who had spent 15 years with the men’s basketball program, was reassigned following the skirmish and eventually resigned. —Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 Dec. 2025

Think of it in terms of a basketball coach who has to maximize the play time for his best players in order to achieve a win as a team. —Fatma Tanis, NPR, 13 Dec. 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