Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Jai alai.
  • noun The ball used in jai alai.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A Spanish game played in a court with a ball and a curved device attached to the player's arm by which the ball can be hurled with great force and accuracy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A Basque, Spanish, and Spanish-American game played in a court, in which a ball is struck with a wickerwork racket.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any of a variety of Spanish sports played against a wall

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a Basque or Spanish game played in a court with a ball and a wickerwork racket

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish, from Old French pelote, pellet; see pellet.]

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Examples

  • I have used the Spanish word "pelota," but it merely means "ball," just as the Russian word "soviet" means nothing in the world but

    Here, There and Everywhere Frederick Spencer Hamilton 1892

  • Baseball, known among Cubans as "pelota," the Spanish word for ball, is a source of national pride in Cuba and the country's successes on the field have been used as a promotional tool for its one-party socialist system.

    ireland.com Breaking News 2009

  • It's an occasion as uniquely Ashleyian as pelota is Basque.

    The Brimming Cup Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1918

  • Argentina also won a medal on Day 12 of the Pan Americans Games, claiming the first gold in Basque pelota when Facundo Andreasen and Sergio Villegas won the men's rubber paleta event.

    SI.com 2011

  • Argentina claimed the first gold in Basque pelota when Facundo Andreasen and Sergio Villegas won the men's rubber paleta event.

    NYT > Home Page By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 2011

  • The rural sports are in decline as younger Basques show greater interest in football or the Basque game pelota, which is similar to squash.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • The rural sports are in decline as younger Basques show greater interest in football or the Basque game pelota, which is similar to squash.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2010

  • Elenamary said ... yeah, i hang out with a lot of pro latino baseball players (mostly from the dominican republic) and they always say things like "me voy para el play" (I am going to the stadium) or "mi amigo el catcher" what is funny though is that dominicans refer to baseball as just "pelota"

    La Profesora Abstraida 2005

  • In France, a variation of the game is called jeu de Paume ; the Spanish play pelota ; in Italy it's known as pallapugno , while the Dutch play kaatsen and the Belgians call it llargues .

    Fives Reasons for Olympic Gold William Lyons 2011

  • My own children would play for hours on its vast fronton (court), theoretically for pelota but more often for impromptu football, or rollerskating, or teenage flirting or, at night, dances and fireworks or Basque games (shows of strength).

    Classic France: the insiders' guide 2011

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