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# handball

noun (handball — the game, uncountable; a handball, handballs — a foul or a ball)

«handball» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Handball is a team game in which players throw and pass a ball with their hands and try to throw it into the other team's goal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#m1)
2. In football (soccer), a handball is a foul when a player other than the goalkeeper touches the ball with the hand or arm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#m2)
3. In some places, handball is a playground game of hitting a ball against a wall or into squares with the hand (also called «downball» or «four square»). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#m3)

### In the lessons

In PE lessons, handball teaches passing, catching and teamwork; it is an Olympic sport. In football, «Handball!» is shouted when a player touches the ball with a hand, and the referee may give a free kick or penalty. In Australian schools, handball is a popular playground game in painted squares. In Australian football a «handball» is a way of passing by punching the ball from your hand.

### Examples

- We played handball in PE today. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x1)
- The referee blew his whistle for a handball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x2)
- In handball you can take only three steps holding the ball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x3)
- At lunch we played handball in the four squares. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x4)
- He was given a yellow card for a deliberate handball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x5)
- Our handball team won the school tournament. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/#x6)

### Note

The game is uncountable («play handball»); the foul is countable («a handball»). Do not confuse with «hand ball» meaning any ball held in the hand. Rules differ between handball the Olympic game and playground handball.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «handball» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/handball/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«handball» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/handball.html) on Mova free.