# handball

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #25,084

## Definitions
1. A team sport where two teams of seven players each (six players and a goalkeeper) pass and bounce a ball trying to throw it in the goal of the opposing team.
2. The medium-sized inflated ball used in this sport.
3. The offence of a player other than the goalkeeper touching the ball with the hand or arm on the field during play.
4. A sport in which players alternately strike the ball against a wall with their hand. Irish and American variants have slightly different rules.
5. The small rubber ball used in this sport.
6. An act of passing a football by holding it with one hand and hitting it with the other.
7. A schoolyard game in which a tennis ball is struck with the hand, played on an improvised court on the asphalt or pavement.

## Etymology
From hand + ball.

## Easily confused with
- **hardball** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/handball-vs-hardball)
- **handbag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/handbag-vs-handball)
- **handbags** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/handbags-vs-handball)

## Common misspellings (11)
`ahndball`, `hadnball`, `hanbdall`, `handabll`, `handbal`, `handbball`, `handblal`, `handdball`, `hanndball`, `hhandball`, `hnadball`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/handball