sport

[ spawrt ]
See synonyms for: sportsportedsportersportest on Thesaurus.com

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.

  2. a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.

  1. sports, (used with a singular verb) such athletic activities collectively: Sports is important in my life.

  2. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.

  3. jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry: What he said in sport was taken seriously.

  4. mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him.

  5. an object of derision; laughingstock.

  6. something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.

  7. something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.

  8. a sportsman.

  9. Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person: He was a sport and took his defeat well.

  10. Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.

  11. Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.

  12. Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.

  13. Obsolete. amorous dalliance.

adjectiveAlso sports .
  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.

  1. to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.

  2. to trifle or treat lightly: to sport with another's emotions.

  3. to mock, scoff, or tease: to sport at suburban life.

  4. 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).

  1. Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., especially with ostentation: Celebs are frequently seen sporting a wide array of designer handbags.

  2. Archaic. to amuse (especially oneself).

Idioms about sport

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

Origin of sport

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of disport

synonym study For sport

4. See play.

Other words for sport

Other words from sport

  • 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

Words Nearby sport

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sport in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for sport

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

  1. any particular pastime indulged in for pleasure

  2. the pleasure derived from a pastime, esp hunting, shooting, or fishing: we had good sport today

  3. playful or good-humoured joking: to say a thing in sport

  4. derisive mockery or the object of such mockery: to make sport of someone

  5. someone or something that is controlled by external influences: the sport of fate

  6. informal (sometimes qualified by good, bad, etc) a person who reacts cheerfully in the face of adversity, esp a good loser

  7. informal a person noted for being scrupulously fair and abiding by the rules of a game

  8. informal a person who leads a merry existence, esp a gambler: he's a bit of a sport

  9. Australian and NZ informal a form of address used esp between males

  10. biology

    • an animal or plant that differs conspicuously in one or more aspects from other organisms of the same species, usually because of a mutation

    • an anomalous characteristic of such an organism

verb
  1. (tr) informal to wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner: she was sporting a new hat

  2. (intr) to skip about or frolic happily

  1. to amuse (oneself), esp in outdoor physical recreation

  2. (intr often foll by with) to dally or trifle (with)

  3. (tr often foll by away) rare to squander (time or money): sporting one's life away

  4. (intr often foll by with) archaic to make fun (of)

  5. (intr) biology to produce or undergo a mutation

Origin of sport

1
C15 sporten, variant of disporten to disport

Derived forms of sport

  • sporter, noun
  • sportful, adjective
  • sportfully, adverb
  • sportfulness, noun

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