v.
In a two-person team, to produce a positive result by having one team member perform well when the other member does not.
Example Citation:
"The Americans' most telling weapon was their putting, mostly Duval's. That and the fact that, as Woods put it, they 'hubby-wifed' it pretty well, with one bailing the other out in times of trouble."
— Lewine Mair, "Americans sink local heroes," The Daily Telegraph, December 11, 2000
Earliest Citation:
You've got to break up cliques, or you'll find players husband-and-wifing it on the court.
— Al McGuire, quoted in John McGrath, "McGuire won more than just championships," The News Tribune, January 28, 2001
Notes:
This verb, with its underlying sense of the two players helping each other, is probably derived from the older verb husband-and-wife, "to have two players on a team control the majority of the offensive play." I believe this phrase was coined by former college basketball coach Al McGuire.
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.