handball

Etymology

From hand +‎ ball.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

handball (countable and uncountable, plural handballs)

1. (uncountable) A team sport where two teams of seven players each (six players and a goalkeeper) pass and bounce a ball trying to throw it in the goal of the opposing team.
2. (countable) The medium-sized inflated ball used in this sport.
4. (countable, soccer) The offence of a player other than the goalkeeper touching the ball with the hand or arm on the field during play.
   • 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport‎:

     It was a dramatic finish to an absorbing, fast-paced game but Blackburn will be deeply unhappy with referee Anthony Taylor as Nzonzi's handball was harsh.

5. (uncountable, US, Ireland) A sport in which players alternately strike the ball against a wall with their hand. Irish and American variants have slightly different rules.
6. (countable, US) The small rubber ball used in this sport.
7. (countable, Australian rules football) An act of passing a football by holding it with one hand and hitting it with the other.
8. (uncountable, Australia) A schoolyard game in which a tennis ball is struck with the hand, played on a improvised court on the asphalt or pavement.

Verb

handball (third-person singular simple present handballs, present participle handballing, simple past and past participle handballed)

1. (transitive) To manually load or unload a container, trailer, or to otherwise manually move bulk goods (often on pallets) from one type of transport receptacle to another.
2. (soccer) To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm.

   Synonym: handle

   If the defender handballs in the penalty area, a penalty is awarded.

3. (Australian rules football) To (legally) pass a football by holding it with one hand and hitting it with the other.
   • 2001, Jerry R. Thomas, Alan G. Launder, Jack K. Nelson, Play Practice: The Games Approach to Teaching and Coaching Sports, page 111:

     Meanwhile, you can introduce the basic concept of Aussie rules through a game like lineball, a lead-up game introduced in the basketball section of chapter 10, but with the ball handballed, not thrown.

   • 2005, Andrew McLeod, Trevor D. Jaques, Australian Football: Steps to Success, page 9:

     An obvious way in which football has changed over the last decade or two has been in the use of handballing.

   • 2009, John P. Devaney, Full Points Footy: Encyclopedia of Australian Football Clubs, page 246:

     On only 8 occasions during the entire match did players who had marked the ball decide not to walk slowly and purposefully back and take their kick, but instead play on by handballing to a team mate.

4. (sexuality, slang) To insert a hand into someone's anus.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Handball (“handball”), from Hand (“hand”) +‎ Ball (“ball”), literally “hand ball”.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ɑ̃d.bal/

Noun

handball m (plural handballs)

1. (sports) handball

   Synonym: (colloquial) hand

Further reading

• “handball”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

From hand- +‎ ball.

Noun

handball m (definite singular handballen, indefinite plural handballer, definite plural handballene)

1. alternative form of håndball

References

• “handball” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From hand- +‎ ball.

Noun

handball m (definite singular handballen, indefinite plural handballar, definite plural handballane)

1. (uncountable) handball, a team sport.
2. (countable) a handball, the ball used in this sport.

References

• “handball” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Alternative forms

• hándbol

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English handball.

Noun

handball m (uncountable)

1. handball

   Synonym: balonmano