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basketball

/ˌbæskətˈbɔl/
/ˈbɑskɛtbɔl/
IPA guide

Other forms: basketballs

Basketball is a team sport in which players work together to bounce a ball down the length of a court and throw it through a hoop. Some college basketball games are hugely popular and very competitive.

In basketball, two teams of five players collaborate to score points by successfully throwing the ball — also called a basketball — through the nets that hang from hoops at either end of the court. The game was invented in 1891, and the word basketball first appeared in print the next year, from basket and ball.

Definitions of basketball
  1. noun
    a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop
    synonyms: basketball game, hoops
    see moresee less
    types:
    professional basketball
    playing basketball for money
    type of:
    court game
    an athletic game played on a court
  2. noun
    an inflated ball used in playing basketball
    see moresee less
    type of:
    ball
    round object that is hit or thrown or kicked in games
    basketball equipment
    sports equipment used in playing basketball
Pronunciation
US
/ˌbæskətˈbɔl/
UK
/ˈbɑskɛtbɔl/
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