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. (used with a singular verb),  sports, 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.

verb (used with object)

1. to pass (time) in amusement or sport.

2. to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often followed byaway ).

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,  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. to dally or trifle (with)

5. rare,  to squander (time or money)

   sporting one's life away

6. archaic,  to make fun (of)

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

Other Word Forms

• sportful adjective
• sportfully adverb
• sportfulness noun
• sportless adjective
• outsport verb (used with object)
• unsported adjective
• unsportful adjective
• sporter noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of sport¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of sport¹

C15 sporten, variant of disporten to _disport

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. sport one's oak. oak.

Synonym Study

See play .

Example Sentences

He shared photographs from Maslova Pristan showing a sports centre with its roof and walls blown apart, and said rescue workers were clearing debris and assessing the damage.

Read more on BBC

Meaning cash-neutral for teams like the Dodgers — and the New York teams, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs — still reeling in big bucks amid the collapse of regional sports networks outside large markets?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Go to our dedicated sport quizzes page and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.

Read more on BBC

Mattel announced Monday that it had assembled a team of four international rugby athletes to help encourage girls to embrace their confidence and stay in sports.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Can you imagine if he’s out there every single week putting his life on the line doing this very dangerous, very high-pressure, high-intensity sport, and I’m like, ‘I wonder what my choreo should be?’”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• athletics 
• fun 
• game 
• pastime