Racketball

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A racquet sport played indoors that involves hitting a hollow rubber ball against walls using a racket in a dedicated court setting
2. An athletic activity involving a racket and a rubber ball, typically taking place within a four-walled court where players score points by returning the ball
3. A game played indoors where players use a racket to strike a rubber ball against surrounding walls to score points

Etymology: Racquetball is a compound of "racket" and "ball," and the spelling tells a small story of its own. The sport is played with a short-handled racket and a hollow rubber ball in an enclosed court, which is where the word's structure comes from. The "racket" element is the bat-like implement rather than the noise, and the word is simply the name of a game defined by the tool used to strike the ball. The spelling "racketball" with a single "c" and "ke" is the form the source records, and it sits alongside the more common "racquetball" spelling, which keeps the older "racquet" form of the implement. Both point to the same compound: a ball game played with a racket. The word's meaning therefore stays literal, with no shift from its parts.