golf

[ golf, gawlf; British also gof ]

/ gɒlf, gɔlf; British also gɒf /

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noun

a game in which clubs with wooden or metal heads are used to hit a small, white ball into a number of holes, usually 9 or 18, in succession, situated at various distances over a course having natural or artificial obstacles, the object being to get the ball into each hole in as few strokes as possible.

a word used in communications to represent the letter G.

verb (used without object)

to play golf.

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CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of golf

1425–75; late Middle English; of uncertain origin

OTHER WORDS FROM golf

golfer, nounnon·golf·er, noun

Words nearby golf

Goldwater, Barry, goldwork, Goldwyn, Goldwynism, golem, golf, golf bag, golf ball, golf cart, golf club, golf course

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use golf in a sentence

In many cases, they are traveling at night by using small habitat patches like wooded backyards and strips of suburbia wood lines to link up to larger green spaces like cemeteries, golf courses, and parks.
Four wild animals that are thriving in cities|By Ryan Chelius/Outdoor Life|February 9, 2021|Popular-Science
I know he went out there and hired a golf pro and worked on his swing.
Byron Leftwich is a rising star on a Bucs coaching staff that shows the power of diversity|Adam Kilgore|February 5, 2021|Washington Post
Saunders concluded that the first golf ball Shepard hit traveled roughly 24 yards, while the second golf ball traveled 40 yards.
Remastered images reveal how far Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the Moon|Jennifer Ouellette|February 5, 2021|Ars Technica
Reed had sparked chatter on CBS’s telecast and throughout the golf world when he picked up a ball he claimed was embedded and played it from another lie after a free drop.
Patrick Reed ends up in another golf rules dispute before winning Farmers Insurance Open|Cindy Boren, Des Bieler|February 1, 2021|Washington Post

He would reunite with Laura in a few days, and he looked forward to playing golf with his grandson.
A college football coach’s season at war with the coronavirus — and his own school|Kent Babb|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
In 2006, Wahlberg participated in the Los Angeles Police-Celebrity Golf Tournament, an annual fundraiser.
LAPD Foundation: Mark Wahlberg Would Make a Good Reserve Cop|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She takes a golf club, the country club equivalent of a Louisville slugger, and attacks his car.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Tay-Tay Scorned|Sujay Kumar|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Maybe just nine holes of golf after an American ISIS hostage is beheaded.
The GOP Senate: A New Utopia Dawns|P. J. O’Rourke|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So he turned around, and got in the back of the golf cart that was supposed to take him back to his car.
Is John Mulaney the Next Seinfeld?|Kevin Fallon|October 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Duke disappeared into a darkened side room, where he sat inches from a glowing television screen, gazing at golf.
The Duchess Who Secretly Loved Elvis: Remembering Lunch with 'Debo,' The Last Mitford Sister|Lloyd Grove|September 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Play-writing is a luxury to a journalist, as insidious as golf and much more expensive in time and money.
First Plays|A. A. Milne
The place he put it in was—er—a little below golf and a little above classical concerts.
First Plays|A. A. Milne
It even possessed the attractions of a golf course, the first in Ireland, the Kinnegar at Holywood, p. 92but more of that anon.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Father always gets a lot of golf up here, you know, and I'm rather fond of it.
The Doctor of Pimlico|William Le Queux
Marie looked down over the golf links, as the car swung around the long curve at the head of the slope.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for golf (1 of 2)

golf

/ (ɡɒlf) /

noun

a game played on a large open course, the object of which is to hit a ball using clubs, with as few strokes as possible, into each of usually 18 holes
(as modifier)a golf bag

verb

(intr) to play golf

Word Origin for golf

C15: perhaps from Middle Dutch colf club

British Dictionary definitions for golf (2 of 2)

Golf

/ (ɡɒlf) /

noun

communications a code word for the letter g

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

golf

Origin of golf

OTHER WORDS FROM golf

Words nearby golf

Words related to golf

How to use golf in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for golf (1 of 2)

Word Origin for golf

British Dictionary definitions for golf (2 of 2)