# basketball

Pronunciation: US say "BAS-kit-bawl" /ˈbæs.kɪt.bɔl/; UK say "BAHS-kit-bawl" /ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/

## Noun

1. A team sport in which two opposing teams of five players try to put a ball through an elevated hoop.
   - Simple: A team game where two sides of five players try to throw a ball through a high hoop.
   - _She earned a college scholarship by playing basketball._
   - _Professional basketball draws enormous television audiences each season._
2. The inflated, round ball used to play the sport of basketball.
   - Simple: The large, round ball that players bounce and throw in the game of basketball.
   - _The referee tossed the basketball up for the opening tip-off._
   - _A worn basketball had lost most of its grip by season's end._

## Verb

3. To play the sport of basketball. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To take part in a game of basketball.
4. To toss an object with the same arcing motion used when shooting a ball at a hoop. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To throw something the way a player shoots a ball at a hoop.

## Origin

A compound formed from basket and ball.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/basketball (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).