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
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
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
Austin Murphy
also
: the pass itself
… an alley-oop pass to Chandler from Manning gave the Saints a 13-7 lead. —Larry McMillen
Larry McMillen … he … tossed an alley-oop to Tate Casey for the first touchdown pass of his college career. —USA Today
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
D. J. MacHale
Rob alley-ooped the ball toward the basket.
—Stanley Gordon West
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
Edward Lee
Examples of alley-oop in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And when Green tried to creep over to double team him, Davis found Jaxson Hayes for an alley-oop.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2024
That one resulted in an alley-oop from Jokic to his future Hall-of-Fame teammate.
—Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2024
The audience doesn’t just hand you an alley-oop slam dunk every time.
—Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Aug. 2024
James capped the scoring streak with a no-look, alley-oop pass to Jayson Tatum on an out-of-bounds play, zipping the ball toward the rim where the Boston Celtics star slammed it with two hands.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for alley-oop 
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Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2024
That one resulted in an alley-oop from Jokic to his future Hall-of-Fame teammate.
—Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 13 Oct. 2024
The audience doesn’t just hand you an alley-oop slam dunk every time.
—Lacey Rose, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Aug. 2024
James capped the scoring streak with a no-look, alley-oop pass to Jayson Tatum on an out-of-bounds play, zipping the ball toward the rim where the Boston Celtics star slammed it with two hands.
—Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for alley-oop
Dictionary Entries Near alley-oop
Cite this Entry
“Alley-oop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alley-oop. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
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