Basketball: meaning, definitions and examples

Formal settings or when clarity is needed. This is the standard term for the sport and is appropriate in both written and spoken language.

• He plays basketball every weekend
• The basketball season starts in November

Casual conversations, often implying playing the game more than watching it. It’s commonly used in informal settings.

• Let's shoot some hoops this afternoon
• The kids are playing hoops in the park

Casual conversations, especially among friends or in informal settings. It's a popular slang term for basketball, used mostly in speech.

• Do you want to play some b-ball after school? I watched an amazing b-ball game last night

Informal and sometimes nostalgic or old-fashioned contexts. It’s not as commonly used as other terms.

• Back in the day, we used to call it roundball
• He was a roundball star in his youth

Typically used in the same contexts as before, either for the game or the equipment. It's repetitive in this list.

• She joined the basketball team in college
• The basketball went out of bounds

This is a general term that can refer to any round object used in sports and games. It is not specific to basketball.

• The dog loves fetching the ball in the park
• We need a ball for our soccer game

Use this term in more scientific or geometrical contexts to describe a three-dimensional round object. It's not commonly used to describe a basketball in everyday conversation.

• In geometry class, we learned how to calculate the volume of a sphere
• The Earth is not a perfect sphere

This slang term is sometimes used to refer to a basketball. It can add a casual or informal tone.

• Pass me the rock, I want to take a shot
• He's got great skills handling the rock