sport

[ spawrt ]

noun

1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

   Synonyms: game

2. a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.
3. sports, (used with a singular verb) such athletic activities collectively:

   Sports is important in my life.

4. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.

   Synonyms: entertainment, fun, amusement

5. jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry:

   What he said in sport was taken seriously.

6. mockery; ridicule; derision:

   They made sport of him.

7. an object of derision; laughingstock.
8. something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.
9. something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.
10. a sportsman.
11. Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person:

    He was a sport and took his defeat well.

12. Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.
13. Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.
14. Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.
15. Obsolete. amorous dalliance.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or used in sports or a particular sport:

   sport fishing.

2. suitable for outdoor or informal wear:

   sport clothes.

verb (used without object)

1. to amuse oneself with some pleasant pastime or recreation.
2. to play, frolic, or gambol, as a child or an animal.

   Synonyms: caper, romp

3. to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.
4. to trifle or treat lightly:

   to sport with another's emotions.

   Synonyms: toy

5. to mock, scoff, or tease:

   to sport at suburban life.

6. Biology. mutate ( def 4 ).

verb (used with object)

1. to pass (time) in amusement or sport.
2. to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often followed by away ).
3. Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., especially with ostentation:

   Celebs are frequently seen sporting a wide array of designer handbags.

4. Archaic. to amuse (especially oneself ).

sport

/ spɔːt /

noun

1. an individual or group activity pursued for exercise or pleasure, often involving the testing of physical capabilities and taking the form of a competitive game such as football, tennis, etc
2. such activities considered collectively
3. any particular pastime indulged in for pleasure
4. the pleasure derived from a pastime, esp hunting, shooting, or fishing

   we had good sport today

5. playful or good-humoured joking

   to say a thing in sport

6. derisive mockery or the object of such mockery

   to make sport of someone

7. someone or something that is controlled by external influences

   the sport of fate

8. informal.
   sometimes qualified bygood, bad, etc a person who reacts cheerfully in the face of adversity, esp a good loser
9. informal.
   a person noted for being scrupulously fair and abiding by the rules of a game
10. informal.
    a person who leads a merry existence, esp a gambler

    he's a bit of a sport

11. informal.
    a form of address used esp between males
12. biology
    1. an animal or plant that differs conspicuously in one or more aspects from other organisms of the same species, usually because of a mutation
    2. an anomalous characteristic of such an organism

verb

1. informal.
   tr to wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner

   she was sporting a new hat

2. intr to skip about or frolic happily
3. to amuse (oneself), esp in outdoor physical recreation
4. introften foll bywith to dally or trifle (with)
5. rare.
   troften foll byaway to squander (time or money)

   sporting one's life away

6. archaic.
   introften foll bywith to make fun (of)
7. intr biology to produce or undergo a mutation

Derived Forms

• ˈsportful, adjective
• ˈsporter, noun
• ˈsportfulness, noun
• ˈsportfully, adverb

Other Words From

• sport·ful adjective
• sport·ful·ly adverb
• sport·ful·ness noun
• sport·less adjective
• out·sport verb (used with object)
• un·sport·ed adjective
• un·sport·ful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sport¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of disport none

Word History and Origins

Origin of sport¹

C15 sporten, variant of disporten to disport

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. sport one's oak. oak ( def 5 ).

Synonym Study

See play none.

Example Sentences

The hardest things to teach and evaluate online, instructors say, are the skills, strategies and collaboration involved in team sports.

From Washington Post

If kneeling during the anthem is injecting politics into sports, so is that request.

From Washington Post

All gatherings, including at sporting events, have been banned.

From Washington Post

Hermetically sealing off sports from the rest of society isn’t a way to accomplish that.

From Washington Post

Really, he was doing sports performance before sports performance became a high priority in college sports.

From Washington Post

Cricket is a sport enjoyed by hundreds of millions around the globe, mainly in former British colonies.

From The Daily Beast

When he reaches a low point in his career, in 1997, he writes that he “even contemplated moving away from the sport completely.”

From The Daily Beast

Sachin Tendulkar may be one of the most brilliant players in the sport, but he struggles to liven up his memoirs.

From The Daily Beast

The sport of surfing is a very sexy sport, beautiful people on beautiful beaches in minimal clothing.

From The Daily Beast

Like I said, as a team we drew attention to the sport in a way no one ever has.

From The Daily Beast

Many British Ferns evidence a marked tendency to “sport,” and this is a fact which the beginner should always bear in mind.

From Project Gutenberg

He said something laughingly to the head guide to the effect that climbing was good sport and a fine test for the nerves.

From Project Gutenberg

Tiger-hunting, by the way, was considered great sport by Yung Pak's father.

From Project Gutenberg

The more enthusiastic among the audience, male and female, also sport the red cap of liberty.

From Project Gutenberg

They had come down from the kraal to enjoy the sport and get some of the meat, of which they are particularly fond.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• athletics
• fun
• game
• pastime