alley-oop

[ al-ee-oop ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

interjection

(used as a shout of encouragement, exhortation, or the like, especially when coordinating efforts to lift a heavy object.)

noun

Basketball. a quick-score play in which a high, arching pass is made to a teammate close to the basket, who leaps to catch the ball and in midair drops or stuffs it through the basket.

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of alley-oop¹

First recorded in 1915–20; from French allez-hop; allez, imperative of aller “to go” + hop, variant of houp, an interjection of expressive origin; alley ¹( def ), hoopla ( def )

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And the kind of two-on-one fast break with Austin Reaves and LeBron James that usually would be an alley-oop became an alley-oops when Reaves threw the ball too high and James missed the layup.

From

St. John Bosco forward Christian Collins slammed an alley-oop dunk to begin the game — enough for half of the Braves’ 4-3 lead by the end of the first quarter.

From

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.

From

Ballo supplied one of Arizona’s rare highlights late in the first half with a one-handed dunk on an alley-oop.

From

Boswell added a 3 from near the “A” logo and Love brought the crowd to its feet with an alley-oop to Johnson that put Arizona up 48-25.

From

alley light alleyway

Browse