athletics

[ ath-let-iks ]

noun

1. (usually used with a plural verb) athletic sports, as running, rowing, or boxing.
2. British. track-and-field events.
3. (usually used with a singular verb) the practice of athletic exercises; the principles of athletic training.

athletics

/ æθˈlɛtɪks /

noun

1. 1. track and field events
   2. ( as modifier )

      an athletics meeting

2. sports or exercises engaged in by athletes
3. the theory or practice of athletic activities and training

Pronunciation Note

See athlete.

Word History and Origins

Origin of athletics¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; athletic, -ics

Example Sentences

In the 2001 ALDS, the Yankees led the Oakland Athletics 1-0 in the seventh inning.

From The Daily Beast

For thousands of kids, particularly poor kids in the South, where football is a way of life, athletics has been a road out.

From The Daily Beast

I mean, college athletics, football in particular, has changed dramatically over the years.

From The Daily Beast

Afterwards, in the afternoon, campers pick between theater, dance, athletics, and crafts.

From The Daily Beast

That is, like all things, a matter of perspective (as well as being a question of whether one is a Giants or an Athletics fan).

From The Daily Beast

My objections to your sports and athletics seem to have very little reality about them, children, said Mrs. Belding.

From Project Gutenberg

The sports themselves were those that we are accustomed to group together as track and field athletics.

From Project Gutenberg

The latter learned that in athletics especially the rivalry between the two lower and the two upper classes was intense.

From Project Gutenberg

Having ploughed the mortgaged acres, and tossed hay and broken colts, college athletics struck him as rather puerile diversion.

From Project Gutenberg

Respite came to him for a year or two before he went to college because athletics became his god.

From Project Gutenberg