Volleyers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who actively participate in the act of hitting or returning a ball or projectile midair before it touches the ground, typically in sports like tennis or volleyball
2. Players engaged in striking a ball made airborne before it lands, often in games that require rapid reaction and coordination such as badminton or racquetball
3. Competitors known for exchanging shots or passes quickly while the object is still in flight, commonly seen in various net or court sports involving volleys

Etymology: "Volleyers" is simply the plural of "volleyer," a player who strikes a ball in the air before it touches the ground. The noun is formed from "volley," the act of hitting a ball before it bounces, and the suffix "-er," which marks a person who performs an action. So a volleyer is, literally, one who volleys. The "volley" at its root comes from a French word for a flight or flurry of something, and the sporting sense grew out of the idea of a shot sent through the air rather than allowed to bounce. Once that picture was in place, adding "-er" produced a natural name for the player doing the hitting.

Synonyms: players, hitters, racquet players, tennis players, badminton players