SINCE 1828
free throw
nounDefinition of free throw
: an unhindered shot in basketball made from behind a set line and awarded because of a foul by an opponent
Examples of free throw in a Sentence
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The defense is aptly named — four men create a box around the lane (two men at the corners of the free throw line, one on each block by the basket) while one man plays man-to-man defense against the team’s top offensive threat. — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, "Kurtenbach: The Raptors paid Steph Curry the ultimate respect and it told us so much about these NBA Finals," 3 June 2019 In addition to the 44 points (on 15-for-26 shooting), Harden tallied eight assists, made seven of his 12 three-point attempts and shot a game-high nine free throws. — Aj Neuharth-keusch, USA TODAY, "James Harden might be 'most unguardable player' ever, says Charles Barkley," 16 Apr. 2018 So here is a solution: After three fouls, teams will shoot free throws - and after four fouls, teams will shoot two from the charity stripe. — Tim Bontemps, chicagotribune.com, "The NCAA tournament is great — except for the actual basketball. Here's how to fix that.," 26 Mar. 2018 Haas tried to shake off the pain for a few minutes, but eventually came out of the game instead of shooting free throws. — George Sipple, Detroit Free Press, "NCAA tournament: Purdue powers past Cal State Fullerton in Detroit," 16 Mar. 2018 McKillop felt there may have been too much overexertion at times trying to catch up, and as a result Kentucky shot 32 free throws, making 26. — Dave Southorn, idahostatesman, "Kentucky tops Davidson in Boise, even while an incredible 30-year streak ends | Idaho Statesman," 15 Mar. 2018 In the hours after Louisville's stunning meltdown against Virginia last Thursday, Deng Adel made his way to the Cardinals' practice gym to shoot free throws and find some serenity. — Jeff Greer, The Courier-Journal, "It's Virginia, again, for Louisville basketball after wild win over FSU," 7 Mar. 2018 Brooklyn shot 24 free throws to the Cavs' seven in the first half. — Joe Vardon, cleveland.com, "Cavaliers finish off Brooklyn 129-123, improve draft pick, and LeBron completes triple double February," 27 Feb. 2018 Lue said Smith thought Cleveland was up one after the Hill's missed free throw, a serious lapse in focus. — Jason Jones, sacbee, "Why the Cavaliers seemed annoyed with the officials (and the Warriors) after Game 1," 31 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'free throw.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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