game
1 Americannoun
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an amusement or pastime.
children's games.
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the material or equipment used in playing certain games.
The store started selling toys and games.
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a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.
Flag football is a game growing in popularity.
- Synonyms:
- competition, contest, sport
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a single occasion of such an activity, or a definite portion of one.
the final game of the season;
a rubber of three games at bridge.
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the number of points required to win a game.
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the score at a particular stage in a game.
With five minutes to play, the game was 7 to 0.
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a particular manner or style of playing a game.
Her game of chess is improving.
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anything resembling a game, as in requiring skill, endurance, or adherence to rules.
She's an expert at the game of diplomacy.
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a trick or strategy.
They can see through your game.
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something treated lightly or lacking in seriousness; sport.
That's enough of your games!
When I was young, love was just a game to me.
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wild animals, including birds and fishes, such as those hunted for food or taken for sport or profit.
The area is particularly rich in game.
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the flesh of such wild animals, used as food.
The cook made a dish of game.
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any object of pursuit, attack, abuse, etc..
The new boy at school seemed to be fair game for practical jokers.
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Informal. a business or profession.
He's in the real-estate game.
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Informal. the ability to attract or charm romantic or sexual partners.
He's got no game—hasn't had a date in months.
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Archaic. fighting spirit; pluck.
adjective
verb (used without object)
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to play games of chance for stakes; gamble.
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Digital Technology. to play computer or video games.
verb (used with object)
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to squander in games of chance (usually followed byaway ).
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to manipulate to one's advantage, especially by trickery; attempt to take advantage of.
The policy is flawed and many people try to game the system.
idioms
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off one’s game,
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Sports. playing badly.
You can tell the pitcher's off his game—he's walked three batters in a row.
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not performing as well as usual.
The showrunner and her writers are off their game, and episodes this season drag on without the humor and lightness fans had come to expect.
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play games, to act in an evasive, deceitful, manipulative, or trifling manner in dealing with others.
Don't play games with me—I want to know if you love me or not!
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play the game,
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to act or play in accordance with the rules.
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to act honorably or justly.
We naively assumed that our allies would continue to play the game.
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die game,
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to die after a brave struggle.
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to remain steadfast or in good spirits at the moment of defeat.
He knew that as a candidate he didn't have a chance in the world, but he campaigned anyway and died game.
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make game of, to make fun of; ridicule.
It's cruel to make game of the weak and defenseless.
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on one’s game,
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Sports. playing well.
You need to recruit experienced players who will be on their game coming straight off the bench.
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performing well, or as well as usual.
She’s been noticeably sharper and really on her game since she came back from vacation.
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talk a big / good game, to make exaggerated claims or promise extraordinary results.
The PR team talks a big game, but revenue for their department has been flat for three years running.
adjective
noun
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an amusement or pastime; diversion
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a contest with rules, the result being determined by skill, strength, or chance
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a single period of play in such a contest, sport, etc
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the score needed to win a contest
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a single contest in a series; match
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(plural; often capital) an event consisting of various sporting contests, esp in athletics
Olympic Games
Highland Games
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equipment needed for playing certain games
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short for computer game
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style or ability in playing a game
he is a keen player but his game is not good
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a scheme, proceeding, etc, practised like a game
the game of politics
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an activity undertaken in a spirit of levity; joke
marriage is just a game to him
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wild animals, including birds and fish, hunted for sport, food, or profit
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( as modifier )
game laws
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the flesh of such animals, used as food: generally taken not to include fish
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an object of pursuit; quarry; prey (esp in the phrase fair game )
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informal work or occupation
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informal a trick, strategy, or device
I can see through your little game
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obsolete pluck or courage; bravery
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slang prostitution (esp in the phrase on the game )
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to reveal one's intentions or a secret
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to make fun of; ridicule; mock
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playing badly
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playing well
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to behave fairly or in accordance with rules
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there is no longer a chance of success
adjective
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informal full of fighting spirit; plucky; brave
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informal extremely brave; indomitable
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informal (usually foll by for) prepared or ready; willing
I'm game for a try
verb
adjective
Usage
What does game mean? A game is an activity for amusement, particularly with rules that guide the action, like musical chairs. A game is also the materials needed to play certain games, such as a checkerboard and disks for playing checkers. A game is also a competitive activity, like football, or a single occasion of the activity. To game is to play computer or video games or to gamble. To game is used figuratively to mean to cheat or manipulate to one’s advantage. Example: I have never been to a game that was this slow and boring.
Synonym Usage
See play.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gamesimple
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gamessimple
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have gamedperfect
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has gamedperfect
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am gamingprogressive
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are gamingprogressive
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is gamingprogressive
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have been gamingperfect progressive
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has been gamingperfect progressive
Past
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gamedsimple
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had gamedperfect
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was gamingprogressive
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were gamingprogressive
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had been gamingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of game1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun game, gam, gamme “joy; pleasure; sport; hunting,” Old English gaman, gomen; cognate with Old High German gaman “glee”
Origin of game2
First recorded in 1775–85; origin uncertain
Explanation
A game is a contest or pastime. Football, checkers, Monopoly, volleyball, Ms. Pacman — they're all fun games to play. Some games are simple, like Connect Four or Tic Tac Toe. Others are played for millions of dollars, like professional basketball. Games usually have winners and losers, and people play them because they're fun. Other meanings of this word have less to do with playing: If you're a salesperson, you could say you're in the sales game. Wild animals that you hunt and eat are called game. And being game can mean you have disabled feet or legs.
Vocabulary lists containing game
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.
See Examples For:
He said after the game there was a lot of intensity and an energy to score goals, I have to disagree.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“You have to play the game that’s on the field,” Peters said, adding that he is still overweight traditional value sectors including energy, healthcare and other real assets such as commodities and materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers combined for 13 runs, 23 hits and three home runs Monday at Comerica Park, but the biggest thrills of the game didn’t come from either team’s roster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
More: For 44 years, this investor held aces in the long-bond game.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
On the other side of the room, an intense game of foosball is being played.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
"Physically, yes," Vrancken said when asked if these games came too soon.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Since going public with their relationship, the 27-year-old singer and 28-year-old quarterback have been seen at Game 3 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium and sitting courtside at Lakers games at Crypto.com Arena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Familiar—that is to say cliched—accounts of bad men, power games and gender inequity sometimes make “Good Company” tough going.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Hogh - who scored 54 goals in 103 games for Norwegians Bodo/Glimt, five of which were in last season's Champions League - has penned a four-year deal with the option of a further year.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Mom’s smile would disappear and she’d complain that he was wasting money on silly, impossible games, and he’d tell her she was being a control freak and that “our smiles were worth the money.”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
GameStop said Thursday that one gamer in Columbus, Ohio, visited one of its locations to trade in some of his old physical games for store credit.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
God of War fan and gamer Imogen Mellor tells BBC Newsbeat that seeing Laufey get her own story is "so exciting".
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
A venue in Rotterdam turned itself over to fantasy dress-up and gamer fanaticism on the weekend, with thousands attending TwitchCon Europe.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
The streamer, known online as Chantelle Plays, felt the price cut was a "big win" for the casual gamer as they no longer have to subsidise the Call of Duty addition.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
Aside from yours truly, Aech was the best all-around gamer I’d ever encountered.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
“He was one of the coolest, neatest, kindest, gamest horses I’ll ever have. When I saw him in there, my heart sank.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2017
Lots of good intentions and the gamest efforts of able leading actors, respectively Gary Oldman and Ed Harris, could not breathe life into those turkeys.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2010
Filion, who won 17 races with him in '68, says fondly: "He was the gamest horse I ever saw."
From Time Magazine Archive
Little Old Man Ledoux, gamest of the game.
From Time Magazine Archive
It must be confessed that if the barbel is of poor esteem as food, he is the very gamest of the coarse fishes and a fighter to the last.
From Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by Senior, William
Unlike sports or elections, he said, there’s no regulator keeping watch over whether a reality show market is being run — or gamed — fairly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Here I thought he might have considered multiple courses of action, weighed pros and cons, gamed out costs and benefits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
But under a "worst-case scenario" gamed out by Eurasia Group, damage to Iran's oilfields permanently hits the country's exports, while the precarity to Hormuz traffic persists.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
However, SEC rules governing derivative-linked volatility could probably be gamed to a certain extent, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2025
Eisman didn’t know exactly how the rating agencies had been gamed.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Billionaire U.S. investor Kenneth Dart has raised his stake in Swedish gaming group Evolution AB to around 30.02%, passing the threshold that requires the launch of a mandatory takeover offer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Since first emerging online in 2019 on the online bulletin board 4chan, the Backrooms phenomenon has expanded across Reddit, TikTok, YouTube and gaming platforms, where users collectively map, narrate and extend its mythology.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
By necessity, cloud gaming requires a sufficiently fast internet connection.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
If he had amassed the same number of records, skateboard decks or vintage gaming consoles — all fire hazards — would he have gotten the same eviction warning?
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
He followed a red carpet to the second floor and into the gaming room.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
