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Rugby

American  
[ruhg-bee] / ˈrʌg bi /

noun

  1. Also called rugger.  Also called Rugby football.  Usually rugby a form of football, played between two teams of 15 members each, that differs from soccer in freedom to carry the ball, block with the hands and arms, and tackle, and is characterized chiefly by continuous action and prohibition against the use of substitute players.

  2. a town in Warwickshire, in central England.

  3. a coeducational preparatory school in Rugby, England, founded in 1567.

rugby 1 British  
/ ˈrʌɡbɪ /

noun

  1. Also called: rugger.  a form of football played with an oval ball in which the handling and carrying of the ball is permitted

  2. another name for Canadian football

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Rugby 2 British  
/ ˈrʌɡbɪ /

noun

  1. a town in central England, in E Warwickshire: famous public school, founded in 1567. Pop: 61 988 (2001)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Rugby

Probably earlier than 1835–40 Rugby for def. 1; Middle English Rokeby, Rookby, Old English Rocheberie, possibly earlier Hrōcaburg, Hrōceburh (unrecorded) “Hroca's fort,” influenced by Old Norse býr “town, settlement”; borough ( def. )

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.