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jai alai
About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.

jai alai

noun \ˈhī-ˌlī, ˌhī-ə-ˈlī\

Definition of JAI ALAI

: a court game somewhat like handball played usually by two or four players with a ball and a long curved wicker basket strapped to the wrist

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Origin of JAI ALAI

Spanish, from Basque, from jai festival + alai merry

First Known Use: 1903

Rhymes with JAI ALAI

aby, agley, air-dry, Alai, ally, Altai, anti, apply, assai, awry, aye-aye, Bacchae, Baha'i, banzai, barfly, bee fly, Belgae, belie, bigeye, big lie, black eye, blackfly, black tie, blow-dry, blowby, blowfly, blue-sky, Bo Hai, bone-dry, bonsai, botfly, Brunei, buckeye, bugeye, bye-bye, canaille, catchfly, cat's-eye, Chennai, chess pie, Chiang Mai, cockeye, cockshy, come by, comply, cow pie, crane fly, cross-eye, deadeye, decry, deep-fry, deep-sky, deerfly, defy, Delphi, deny, descry, do by, dong quai, drip-dry, drop by, dry eye, dry fly, elhi, Eli, espy, face fly, firefly, fish-eye, flesh fly, flyby, fly high, forby, freeze-dry, frogeye, fruit fly, gadfly, gallfly, get by, GI, glass eye, go by, good-bye, greenfly, grisaille, gun-shy, Haggai, Hawkeye, heel fly, hereby, hi-fi, hog-tie, horn fly, horsefly, housefly, imply, July, Karzai, Kasai, knee-high, lanai, Lanai, lay-by, lay by, Lehigh, let fly, Levi, lie by, magpie, mai tai, mao-tai, Masai, mayfly, medfly, mind's eye, Moirai, mooneye, Mumbai, my eye, nearby, necktie, nilgai, nisi, outbye, outcry, oxeye, pad thai, Panay, panfry, Parcae, piece-dye, pigsty, pinkeye, Po Hai, pop eye, pop fly, potpie, put by, Qinghai, quasi, rabbi, red-eye, rely, reply, rib eye, ride high, rocaille, rough-dry, run dry, Sakai, sand fly, sci-fi, screw eye, semi, Sendai, serai, set by, shanghai, Shanghai, sheep's eye, shoofly, shut-eye, Sinai, sky-high, small-fry, stand by, standby, stir-fry, string tie, supply, swear by, terai, test-fly, thereby, tie-dye, titi, tongue-tie, Transkei, twist tie, two-ply, untie, vat dye, Versailles, walleye, well-nigh, whereby, whitefly, wild rye, wise guy

jai alai

noun (Concise Encyclopedia)

Court game resembling handball. Of Basque origin, it developed from pelota and was given its present name when it was imported to Cuba in 1900. It is played between two or four players with a ball and a hurling device consisting of a long, curved wicker basket strapped to the wrist. The use of this hurling device, called a cesta, allows the ball to reach speeds up to 240 km/hr (150 mph). The court, 53.3 m (58.3 yards) long, is three-walled. The object of the game is to bounce the ball off the front wall with such speed and spin that the opponent is unable to return it. Pari-mutuel betting on jai alai is permitted in the U.S.