alley oop
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L185532 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /al.ɪˈuːp/ / /al.ɪˈʊp/ / /ˌæl.iˈup/
adj
Etymology: Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.
- High and arcing.
“I decided to go for the Alley-Oop pass. I knew I had to lay it in the end zone, high, and I just rared back and threw as hard as I could.”
“The Oroville Tigers have adapted the San Francisco '49er football team's famed... play to their own use on the basketball court.”
- Involving at least a 180-degree turn.
“Do you know what an ollie to frontside 50/50 is? A stale-grab Madonna? A smith-grind to revert? An alley-oop lipslide?... They are all gravity- or death-defying tricks.”
adv
Etymology: Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.
- Synonym of up.
“Down with the starched collars! Allez up with the soft!”
intj
Etymology: Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.
- Encouraging or calling attention to a physical performance, especially one involving an upwards lift or leap.
“I fortunately found a spark plug on the burn and got that repaired and alley oop!”
“He lifted her onto the verandah, crying “Allee-oops!””
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.
- An instance of saying "Alley oop!"
“Rollie says... we should cut out our ‘alley-oop’. He says: ‘It's vulgar, that alley-oop. Every small-time acrobat says “alley-oop”.’”
- A high and arcing pass, catch, or move, especially (basketball) a shot made by a player as part of the same jump used to catch a pass.
“Owens helped beat the Chicago Bears with a catch he made in the end zone;... a week later he gathered in an Alley Oop from Tittle for a victory over Green Bay.”
“It was a mystery how he managed to ride at all with that set-up, let alone tweak alley-oops on this natural quarter pipe!”
verb
Etymology: Borrowed from French allez-hop!, the cry of a circus acrobat about to leap. From allez (“go! let's go!”), 2nd-person plural or formal indicative form of aller, and hop, onomatopoeic.
- To lift or toss upward, or to be lifted or tossed upward.
“K'Nine intentionally bounced the last shot off the edge of the rim, rebounded, dribbled between his legs for three seconds, then alley ooped to Darius.”
“When the ball came back to Tyson, he alley ooped the ball to Larry, who layed it in.”