airball

1 of 2

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

The Longhorns missed 10 of their 14 shots in the period (including back-to-back air balls) and failed to grab an offensive rebound. —Matt Baker, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025

Jokic tied the game on Denver’s ensuing possession, and Minnesota’s final shot attempt was an air ball from Jaden McDaniels. —Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1966, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1967, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for airball

• aldol
• armhole
• atoll
• awol
• backhaul
• banal
• baseball
• befall
• cabal
• catchall
• cecal
• centrale