handball

noun

hand·​ball ˈhan(d)-ˌbȯl 

1

: a game played in a walled court or against a single wall or board by two or four players who use their hands to strike the ball

2

: a small rubber ball used in handball

Examples of handball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

From there, Stefan Ortega saved superbly, only for Ola Aina’s clearance to cannon off Mac Allister and into an empty net, before it was ruled out for handball following a VAR check. —Gregg Evans, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026

Heading into the finale, optician Woo Sung-min, handball coach Shin Hyeon-woo, and The Trunk actor Jo I-geon were all vying for Kim Go-eun’s heart. —Kayti Burt, Time, 10 Feb. 2026

Iñaki Urdangarín, former husband of Infanta Cristina, competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, helping to win the bronze medal for Spain in handball. —Stefania Conrieri, Vanity Fair, 5 Feb. 2026

Kansas City believed two of Empire’s three goals should have been disallowed for handball offenses, including a late first-half score that gave the Strykers a 2-1 lead. —Nathan Dunn, Kansas City Star, 2 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1704, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing handball

• team handball

Rhymes for handball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale

Kids Definition

handball

noun

hand·​ball -ˌbȯl 

1

: a game played in a walled court or against a single wall or board by two or four players who use their hands to strike a ball

2

: the ball used in handball