jump ball
jump ball noun: a method used to begin or resume play in basketball. Two opposing players attempt to gain control of the ball after it is tossed up into the air in between them by an official.
Noun
jump ball (plural jump balls)
- A method used to begin or resume play in basketball. Two opposing players attempt to gain control of the ball after it is tossed up into the air in between them by an official.
- After any dead ball, play shall be resumed by a jump ball, a throw-in or by placing the ball at the disposal of a free-thrower.
- Synonyms:
- tip-off
- Metaphor for a contest too close to call.
- The morning after Election Day, the Oregon governor's race is still a jump ball, but ex-NBA player Chris Dudley is clinging to a slim lead.
- Deal in which no trading house has exclusivity (each firm is in direct competition for a piece of business).
- No preference in picking a particular side (buy/sell) of a stock as profile, indicated during the block call, indicate that the sales force could have the stock either way.
Synonyms of jump ball
Forms of jump ball
| plural | jump balls |
|---|
Questions about jump ball
- What does jump ball mean?
- Jump ball means a method used to begin or resume play in basketball. Two opposing players attempt to gain control of the ball after it is tossed up into the air in between them by an official.
- What part of speech is jump ball?
- Jump ball is a noun.
- What is the plural of jump ball?
- The plural of jump ball is jump balls.
Words near jump ball in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jump ball (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: “jump ball.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jump_ball. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.