noun
volleyball
VO-lee-bawl
noun
1
A team sport in which players hit an inflated ball back and forth over a net without letting it touch the ground on their own side.
"They set up a net on the beach and played volleyball all afternoon."
2
The ball used in this sport.
"The volleyball rolled under the bleachers."
How to Use Volleyball
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA sport where two teams hit a ball over a net without letting it touch the ground.
Common pairings
beach volleyball
play volleyball
Word Forms
volleyballs plural
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Etymology
Coined in the 1890s in Massachusetts from volley + ball, after an observer noticed the "volleying" back-and-forth nature of the newly invented game (originally called Mintonette).