Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A play in which a pass is lobbed above the basket and a player jumps up and attempts to catch the ball and score before returning to the floor.
- noun The pass made in such a play.
- interjection Used to signal the start of a strenuous activity, such as lifting.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Long before the term alley-oop became synonymous with dunking a basketball, San Francisco wide receiver R. C. Owens invented the play on Kezar's turf, using his leaping ability to snag lobs in the end zone from Tittle.
NYT > Home Page By JASON TURBOW 2012
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The red team took an early 6-0 lead, with Morrison hitting Ndiaye for an alley-oop dunk, Arenas blowing past Wall for an easy layup and Palmer knocking down a long jumper.
John Wall looks impressive in evening scrimmages Michael Lee 2010
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Foye lobbed it in the air and Griffin jumped up, grabbed the ball with one hand and dunked it for the alley-oop.
Blake Griffin Slams One-Handed Alley-Oop In Preseason Game (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Team 2010
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Foye lobbed it in the air and Griffin jumped up, grabbed the ball with one hand and dunked it for the alley-oop.
Blake Griffin Slams One-Handed Alley-Oop In Preseason Game (VIDEO) The Huffington Post News Team 2010
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They had energy on Friday, however, and it was on display most notably in the second quarter when Marvin Williams threw a high alley-oop to forward Josh Smith for a hard, athletic slam dunk.
Deflated Knicks Fall to Hawks on the Road Kevin Clark 2011
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The dunking machine grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed it in for the incredible alley-oop.
WATCH: Dunking Sensation Slams One-Handed Alley-Oop Michael Klopman 2011
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Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo threw the ball away while looking for a wide-open Allen on a breakaway—but Rondo did acquit himself nicely when he inbounded an alley-oop straight to Garnett for a dunk that cut the Knicks' lead to one and set up Allen's game-winner.
Boston Snatches Opener From Knicks Kevin Clark 2011
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Newcomer Kirk Hinrich played some serious defense on Wall, Wall connected with JaVale McGee for several alley-oop dunks, Young buried several contested jumpers, and Arenas provided some flashes of his old (No. 0) self.
Midnight Tip-Off more marketing savvy, than madness Michael Lee 2010
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The dunking machine grabbed the ball with one hand and slammed it in for the incredible alley-oop.
WATCH: Dunking Sensation Slams One-Handed Alley-Oop Michael Klopman 2011
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DJ duo Oh Snap!! and Ratt Moze set up Mr. Nasty with an alley-oop for the Tuesday night dunk at DC9.
Nightlife Agenda Fritz Hahn 2010
sionnach commented on the word alley-oop
an acrobatic act, from French 'allez', and English 'up'.
August 6, 2008
catkisses commented on the word alley-oop
Now, mostly a basketball term
October 16, 2008
skipvia commented on the word alley-oop
And (without the hyphen) a song by the Hollywood Argyles, after the comic strip of the same name.
October 16, 2008
reesetee commented on the word alley-oop
Earworm!
October 16, 2008
skipvia commented on the word alley-oop
He'll knuckle your head before you count to foh-wah...
October 16, 2008
bilby commented on the word alley-oop
Shame about basketball sinking its claws into this. Happens, 'spose.
October 16, 2008
reesetee commented on the word alley-oop
He got a big ugly club and a head fulla hairuh. . . .
October 16, 2008
skipvia commented on the word alley-oop
*Sigh* They don't write 'em like that anymore...
October 16, 2008
reesetee commented on the word alley-oop
I suspect most people are glad of that. ;->
October 16, 2008
gangerh commented on the word alley-oop
Makes a topical palindrome!
October 16, 2008
reesetee commented on the word alley-oop
Haha!
October 17, 2008