inbounds pass
noun
basketball
: a pass to start play from a player who is standing out of bounds to a player who is on the court
Examples of inbounds pass in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Van Lith received the final inbounds pass of Saturday’s blowout loss, eventually passing the ball back to an official as fans began to file out.
—
Ben Pickman, New York Times, 8 June 2025
After Sacramento’s Zach Lavine made two free throws with 3.9 seconds left, the Kings stole Harden’s inbounds pass and called a timeout with 2.2 seconds left.
—Staff and News Service Reports, Oc Register, 12 Apr. 2025
When Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams stole an inbounds pass with 9:42 to play and ran the interception the length of the court for a dunk and a 94-79 lead, an arena that had waited 13 years to host another Finals game erupted.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 6 June 2025
And despite fumbling a lead in Game 4, the Lakers weren’t the only ones who thought Doncic should’ve been shooting free throws with a chance to take a lead with 30 seconds left after being tripped instead of the Lakers turning the ball over on the inbounds pass that followed.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inbounds pass
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ben Pickman, New York Times, 8 June 2025
After Sacramento’s Zach Lavine made two free throws with 3.9 seconds left, the Kings stole Harden’s inbounds pass and called a timeout with 2.2 seconds left.
—Staff and News Service Reports, Oc Register, 12 Apr. 2025
When Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams stole an inbounds pass with 9:42 to play and ran the interception the length of the court for a dunk and a 94-79 lead, an arena that had waited 13 years to host another Finals game erupted.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 6 June 2025
And despite fumbling a lead in Game 4, the Lakers weren’t the only ones who thought Doncic should’ve been shooting free throws with a chance to take a lead with 30 seconds left after being tripped instead of the Lakers turning the ball over on the inbounds pass that followed.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for inbounds pass
Cite this Entry
“Inbounds pass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inbounds%20pass. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share