airball

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verb

air·ball ˈer-ˌbȯl

variants or air-ball

airballed or air-balled; airballing or air-balling; airballs or air-balls

transitive + intransitive

US, basketball

: to completely miss the rim and backboard with a shot : to shoot an air ball

Fesenko … badly airballed a free throw in the first quarter.—

Ross Siler

air ball

2 of 2

noun

variants or airball

ˈer-ˌbȯl

plural air balls or airballs

US, basketball

: a shot that completely misses the rim and backboard

Examples of airball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Purdue basketball falls on wrong side of history with loss to 16-seed FDU Reaction:Another Purdue March meltdown: 'What an embarrassment' Closing minute Fletcher Loyer airballs a 3 and Purdue fouls. —

Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Mar. 2023 Hayward made one free throw and airballed the second, completing the 11-0 run. —

David Woods, Indianapolis Star, 25 Mar. 2020

Noun

From midfield on the final play of the game, the rookie rolled right and circled back to the left before launching a 65-yard air ball that was tipped off Bears defenders at the goal line and back into the arms of Commanders WR Noah Brown. Touchdown. —

Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024 Adebayo opened 1 for 7, including an air ball on a short jumper. —

Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for airball

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'airball.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.