golf
[golf, gawlf; British also gof]
- 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.
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- to play golf.
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Origin of golf
1425–75; late Middle English; of uncertain origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for golfing
Contemporary Examples
He spent the weekend golfing, and all they got was to cool their heels.
Maybe, like me and my D.C. gals, the golfing getaway was her idea too.
Michelle Obama Stranded by Her Man as Barack Goes on a Golfing WeekendLauren Ashburn
February 16, 2013
Want to know what book to gift to that 40-year-old golfing uncle?
Live Chat: Best Books to Give for the HolidaysDecember 14, 2011
President Obama had the temerity to be golfing on the Vineyard when the homeland was threatened.
A golfing habit and a liking for girls are fine for a 51-year-old divorcé.
Historical Examples
Somehow I felt responsible for the golfing honor of my country.
Kent Knowles: QuahaugJoseph C. Lincoln
Nowadays the golfing world quite realises that this is the case.
The Complete Golfer [1905]Harry Vardon
The golfing history of North Berwick is full of the romance of the game.
The Spirit of the LinksHenry Leach
Forthwith his plans for future golfing expeditions are changed and modified.
The Spirit of the LinksHenry Leach
If length is all that is wanted, why not go shooting instead of golfing?
The Spirit of the LinksHenry Leach
golf
- 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
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- (intr) to play golf
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Word Origin
C15: perhaps from Middle Dutch colf club
Golf
- communications a code word for the letter g
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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
Word Origin and History for golfing
golf
v.
c.1800, golf (n.). Related: Golfed; golfing.
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golf
n.
mid-15c., Scottish gouf, usually taken as an alteration of Middle Dutch colf, colve "stick, club, bat," from Proto-Germanic *kulth- (cf. Old Norse kolfr "clapper of a bell," German Kolben "mace, club"). The game is from 14c., the word is first mentioned (along with fut-bol) in a 1457 Scottish statute on forbidden games. Golf ball attested from 1540s. Despite what you read in an e-mail, "golf" is not an acronym .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper