This week’s theme
Words from ball games

This week’s words
Hail Mary
kingpin
wheelhouse
snooker
jump ball


This week’s comments
AWADmail 1090

Next week’s theme
Metaphors & idioms

---

A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(JUHMP bawl)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A contest too close to call.
2. An undecided situation or one with no preference.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the game of basketball in which, to begin or to resume play, an official throws a ball up between two opponents. Earliest documented use: 1924.

USAGE:

“The early votes are still a jump ball.”
Colin Lancaster; Fed Up!; Harriman House; 2021.

“It was a jump ball as to whether I walked out.”
Michael Z. Lewin; Missing Woman; Open Road; 2016.

See more usage examples of jump ball in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: