Meaning & use
hand check
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Meanings
nouncountablesport
In basketball, a foul in which a defender repeatedly touches or pushes the player who has the ball with a hand to slow or guide that player.
Grammar: Often called by a referee: the referee whistled a hand check.
Patterns
- a hand check on someone
- get called for a hand check
The referee whistled a hand check on the defender after the second touch.
A hand check on the guard stopped him from driving to the basket.
Coaches teach players to keep their hands off the dribbler to avoid a hand check.
nouncountableinformal
An inspection in which someone looks at or touches another person's hands, for example to check cleanliness or to look for injuries.
Grammar: Informal and less common; usually describes a quick routine inspection.
Patterns
- do a hand check
- a hand check before something
The chef did a hand check before the staff started preparing food.
Teachers at the nursery do a quick hand check before snack time.
Word forms
| plural | hand checks |
|---|
Common combinations
- called for a hand check
- The defender was called for a hand check late in the game.
- illegal hand check
- The rules ban an illegal hand check on the perimeter.
- constant hand check
- He complained about the constant hand check from his opponent.
- whistle a hand check
- The referee decided to whistle a hand check.
- avoid a hand check
- Stay in front of him and avoid a hand check.
Synonyms and how they differ
- foul
- Foul is the general word for any rule violation, while hand check names one specific kind involving the hands.
- hand-checking
- Hand-checking is the same idea as an ongoing action, rather than a single call.
- holding
- Holding means grabbing or restricting a player, which is usually more severe than a light hand check.
Word family
- hand-check verb
- To use the hand to touch or push an opponent as a defender.
- hand-checking noun
- The act of doing this repeatedly.
- check noun
- An examination, or a block in some sports.
Commonly confused: hand check or body check?
hand check vs body check
A body check is a deliberate hit with the body, mostly in ice hockey, while a hand check uses only the hands, mostly in basketball.
Practice
The referee blew the whistle because the defender kept touching the dribbler with his hand. This foul is called a ____.
Choose one answer.
A hand check is a foul for touching an opponent with the hand. Travel is a violation about moving without dribbling, so it does not match.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hand check”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.