ollie

noun

ol·​lie ˈä-lē How to pronounce ollie (audio)
1
: a maneuver in skateboarding in which the skater kicks the tail of the board down while jumping in order to make the board pop into the air
2
: a maneuver in snowboarding in which the rider transfers weight from the front to the back foot to snap the board up off the ground
ollie verb

Examples of ollie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Jones pulled off an impressive ollie over a car on a street. Justin Ray, Robb Report, 24 July 2023 An ollie, for example, is an ollie in Paris, Portland or Perth. John Leicester, ajc, 24 July 2021 Last week, the 52-year-old shared footage on Instagram of him attempting to land an ollie 540 more than three decades ago, as well as performing the trick in the present day. Jason Duaine Hahn, PEOPLE.com, 22 Mar. 2021 At Travers Park in Queens, a group of lanky teens popped ollies, their skateboards slamming against the concrete. Corina Knoll, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2020 Tony also demonstrates how to set up a new skateboard, how to apply griptape, how to do an ollie, how to boardslide, how to do a 540° McTwist and more. Michael Hardy, WIRED, 1 July 2019 Campers ages 6 to 17 will skate with the pros and learn bowl riding, how to grind and kick flip, and the basics of ollies and transitions. Joelle Casteix, Orange County Register, 27 Mar. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ollie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Ollie, nickname of Alan Gelfand born 1963 U.S. skateboarder

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ollie was in 1979

Dictionary Entries Near ollie

Cite this Entry

“Ollie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ollie. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!