Basketball is the game where tall players throw the ball into a high hoop. Play basketball, a basketball court, basketball team.
It was invented in 1891 by James Naismith, who wanted an indoor winter game with no tackling, and the first hoops were peach baskets with the bottoms still in — somebody had to fetch the ball down after every score. The hoop is ten feet up and always has been.
1nounbasketballA team game in which players throw a ball into a high hoop.
“He's so tall that he was picked for the school basketball team.”
basketball is a sport.
From basket + ball.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA