double team
double team is the alternative spelling of double-team.
Meaning of double-team
Verb
double-team (third-person singular simple present double-teams, present participle double-teaming, simple past and past participle double-teamed)
- In sports involving offensive and defensive teams, to use two defensive players to guard against the movements of a single offensive player.
- On any given night, Pivotman Macauley was good for at least 18 points a game. But because L.I.U. double-teamed him (he had two men guarding him), he didn't bother to shoot much.1949 January 24, “Stop St. Louis!”, in Time
- To deal with or handle a task or individual person by using a team of two people.
- Obama . . . accused the Clintons of double-teaming him on the campaign trail. "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," he said.2008 January 21, Kathy Kiely, “Clinton, Obama step up attacks at South Carolina debate”, in USA Today, retrieved 06 Jan 2009
- To double penetrate someone.
- He and M.J. had double-teamed her—with her consent—on a drunken prom night.2015, Double Lucky. Jackie Collins. 2015.
- To gang up on someone, as a group of two.
- one day they double-teamed her into a closet and threatened to lock her in if she didn't show them her privates.2012, Eleanor Choukas Anderson, Out of Her Shadow, page 557
Forms of double team
| third-person singular present | double teams |
|---|---|
| present participle | double teaming |
| past participle | double teamed |
| past | double teamed |
Questions about double team
- What is double team the alternative spelling of?
- Double team is the alternative spelling of double-team.
Words near double team in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: double team (page history and authors); double-team (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “double team.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/double_team. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
