Olympic Games

American  

plural noun

1. Also called Olympian Games. the greatest of the games or festivals of ancient Greece, held every four years in the plain of Olympia in Elis, in honor of Zeus.

2. Olympics. a modern international sports competition, held once every four years.

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Olympic Games British  

noun

1. the greatest Panhellenic festival, held every fourth year in honour of Zeus at ancient Olympia. From 472 _bc , it consisted of five days of games, sacrifices, and festivities

2. Also called: the Olympics. the modern revival of these games, consisting of international athletic and sporting contests held every four years in a selected country since their inception in Athens in 1896 See also Winter Olympic Games

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Olympic Games Cultural  

1. Games held in ancient times on the plain of Olympia in Greece every four years. It was a time for laying aside political and religious differences, as athletes from all the Greek cities and districts competed. The games included patriotic and religious rituals as well as athletic contests, and high honors were given to the winners. The Greeks counted their years by olympiads (periods of four years) and dated events from the first Olympics in 776 b.c.

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The Olympic Games deteriorated under Roman rule of Greece and were halted in the fourth century. They were revived in the late nineteenth century, with goals of peace and fellowship modeled on those of the ancient Olympics. The modern Olympics include many athletic events of the original games, such as the discus throw.

Etymology

Origin of Olympic Games

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Olympic Games

Drawn towards the blazing stadium floodlights, Bogong swarms caused havoc at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In addition to his playing career, Henry served as head coach of France’s men’s soccer team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the team won silver.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

The 35-person board led by Casey Wasserman, who was recently under heat for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, is meant to help plan and execute the upcoming Olympic Games.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Ohanian is determined to bridge a perceived disconnect between the attention on the sport at each Olympic Games compared to the rest of the calendar in those four-year cycles.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

On March 18, two days before the Library Olympic Games were scheduled to start, Mrs. Yunghans, the middle school librarian, showed Team Kyle a viral video of Marjory Muldauer’s brilliant performance at the Midwest finals.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein