Word.ws English Dictionary

jump balls

jump balls is the plural of jump ball.

Meaning of jump ball

Noun

jump ball (plural jump balls)

  1. 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
  2. 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.
  3. Deal in which no trading house has exclusivity (each firm is in direct competition for a piece of business).
  4. 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.

Questions about jump balls

What is jump balls the plural of?
Jump balls is the plural of jump ball.

Words near jump balls in the dictionary

  1. jump at one's own shadow
  2. jump at the chance
  3. jump at the opportunity
  4. jump bail
  5. jump ball
  6. jump balls
  7. jump before one is pushed
  8. jump blues
  9. jump boot
  10. jump boots
  11. jump box

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: jump balls (page history and authors); 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.

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Cite this entry: “jump balls.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jump_balls. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.