pickleball

/ˈpɪkəlˌbɔl/

Other forms: pickleballs

Pickleball is a sport that's similar to tennis, but it's played with paddles instead of rackets. In pickleball, players hit a hollow plastic ball back and forth over a low net.

Sometimes described as a cross between tennis and ping-pong, pickleball was invented in the 1960s in Washington state. It quickly grew popular in the Pacific Northwest, but didn't catch on more widely until the 2020s. Former U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard is credited with creating the game for his kids. Many people think he named it after his dog, Pickles, but Pritchard later said pickleball came from the so-called pickle boat in crew, a randomly thrown-together group of rowers.

Definitions of pickleball

1. noun

   a paddle game played by two or four players who hit a light plastic ball back and forth over a net that divides the court
2. noun

   a plastic ball with holes used in a paddle game played on a court with a net