basketball

Meanings

1. A game played by two teams who score by throwing a ball through a high hoop.
2. The ball used in that game.

Example sentences

• "We play basketball in the park after school."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "He is the tallest player on the basketball team."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

• "She bounced the basketball on the court."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "The basketball game starts at seven."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• netball : Netball is a similar team sport mainly played by women in Commonwealth countries. Basketball has different rules and lets players dribble.
• volleyball : Volleyball is played over a net with a lighter ball. Basketball is played with a hoop.

Word family and forms

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "basketball".

• play basketball
• a basketball court
• a basketball team
• a basketball game
• a professional basketball player
• a basketball hoop

Origin

Basketball is made from basket plus ball, and it is an American word from the early 1890s. The game got its name because the first goals were baskets nailed up high, which the players tried to throw a ball into.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Basketball is basket plus ball. The first game used a peach basket as the goal.

Test yourself

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