intramural
Americanadjective
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involving only students at the same school or college.
intramural athletics.
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within the walls, boundaries, or enclosing units, as of a city, institution, or building.
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Anatomy. being within the substance of a wall, as of an organ.
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involving or understood only by members of a single group, profession, etc..
an intramural medical conference.
adjective
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education operating within or involving those in a single establishment
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anatomy within the walls of a cavity or hollow organ
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of intramural
Explanation
Something that's intramural takes place within a single institution or community. Your local recreational center might offer intramural table tennis to its members. First used in the mid-19th century, the adjective intramural comes from the prefix intra, meaning "within," and the Latin word murus, meaning "walls." It describes an activity that is done within the boundaries — the walls — of an organization or community. You might be familiar with intramural sports leagues that are intended for recreation and fun. They're often offered though a school or community group and are typically open for any member to join.
Vocabulary lists containing intramural
Physical Education - Middle School and High School
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Outcasts United
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The Chocolate War
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s a “three-ring circus”: the merits docket, the shadow docket, and the justices’ increasingly public intramural snipings and gripes.
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
If someone needs a receiver for intramural football, he can be the ringer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Bior studied computer science at the North Carolina campus during his freshman year and was a winger on an intramural soccer team.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Before he arrived in Guadalajara, Negrete had already joined an intramural baseball team and a running club.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
Friends from Smith remember Luma as outgoing and involved, active in intramural soccer and in social events sponsored by the college’s house system.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
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.
