double-team

English

Alternative forms

• double team

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Verb

double-team (third-person singular simple present double-teams, present participle double-teaming, simple past and past participle double-teamed)

1. (transitive, sports) In sports involving offensive and defensive teams, to use two defensive players to guard against the movements of a single offensive player.
   • 1949 January 24, “Stop St. Louis!”, in Time:

     On any given night, Pivotman Macauley was good for at least 18 points a game. But because L.I.U. double-teamed him (he had two men guarding him), he didn't bother to shoot much.

2. (transitive, by extension) To deal with or handle a task or individual person by using a team of two people.
   • 2008 January 21, Kathy Kiely, “Clinton, Obama step up attacks at South Carolina debate”, in USA Today, retrieved 6 Jan. 2009:

     Obama . . . accused the Clintons of double-teaming him on the campaign trail. "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," he said.

   • 2023 September 19, Chaise Sanders, “50 Best Halloween Costumes of All Time, From the Classics to the Truly Unique”, in Cosmopolitan‎:

     Movie buffs will love this costume from Beetlejuice. And even if you don't have someone to double team this look with, each costume can easily slay on its own.

3. (transitive, slang, of two people) To double penetrate someone.
   • 2015, Double Lucky. Jackie Collins. 2015.

     He and M.J. had double-teamed her—with her consent—on a drunken prom night.

4. (transitive, slang) To gang up on someone, as a group of two.
   • 2012, Eleanor Choukas Anderson, Out of Her Shadow‎, page 557:

     one day they double-teamed her into a closet and threatened to lock her in if she didn't show them her privates.

Coordinate terms

• triple-team

Translations

References

• “double-team”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.