alley-oop

noun

al·​ley-oop ˌa-lē-ˈyüp 

plural alley-oops

1

basketball : a play in which a leaping player catches a pass above the basket and immediately dunks the ball

The meeting of man and ball was dazzling, the two handed alley-oop slam-dunk spectacular.

—Shelly Smith

also : the usually high, arcing pass thrown on such a play

He threw an alley-oop to George Lynch on a fast break …

—The New York Times

2

American football : a play in which the quarterback throws a high, arcing pass into the end zone to be caught by a leaping receiver

Quarterback Moore hooked up with receiver Moore on one of their patented alley-oops to make the score 20-7.

—Austin Murphy

also : the pass itself

… an alley-oop pass to Chandler from Manning gave the Saints a 13-7 lead.

—Larry McMillen

… he … tossed an alley-oop to Tate Casey for the first touchdown pass of his college career.

—USA Today

alley-oop verb, transitive + intransitive

alley-ooped; alley-ooping; alley-oops

… they dribbled around us, passed behind their backs, and alley-ooped for a bunch of slam dunks.

—D. J. MacHale

Rob alley-ooped the ball toward the basket.

—Stanley Gordon West

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Flacco basically alley-ooped a pass from the 7, and Heap outmuscled safety Tyrone Carter for the ball in the rear right corner of the end zone.

—Edward Lee

Examples of alley-oop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Huskies activated the Garden crowd immediately with an alley-oop lob to Samson Johnson and jumped out to an early 13-2 lead over Gonzaga, which dropped five spots to No. 13 in the Week 7 poll. —Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 16 Dec. 2024

The block was absolutely absurd, but after swatting Deandre Ayton on an alley-oop dunk attempt in Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Finals, that type of block has become a trademark of sorts for Antetokounmpo. —Eric Nehm, The Athletic, 15 Dec. 2024

Daniels hit a floater on the Hawks’ ensuing possession to put Atlanta ahead 116-115 with 1:31 remaining before Vincent connected with Davis on an alley-oop to put the Lakers back up by one, 117-116. —Khobi Price, Orange County Register, 7 Dec. 2024

Making his first start of the season in place of Aidan Mahaney, Diarra got the game going with an alley-oop to Johnson – a shot the Huskies have struggled to get through their first five games. —Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of allez-oop, cry of a circus acrobat about to leap, probably from French allez, 2nd person plural imperative of aller to go + English -oop, perhaps alteration of up

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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