Rugby
[ruhg-bee]
- a city in E Warwickshire, in central England.
- a boys' preparatory school located there: founded 1567.
- Also rugby. Also called rugger, Rugby football. a form of football, played between two teams of 15 members each, that differs from soccer in freedom to carry the ball, block with the hands and arms, and tackle, and is characterized chiefly by continuous action and prohibition against the use of substitute players.
Show More
Origin of Rugby
probably earlier than 1835–40 for def 3
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rugby
Contemporary Examples
The royal couple then traveled on to the Welsh capital of Cardiff to watch a rugby match between Wales and Australia.
The Haka, a traditional Maori dance, is best known as the pregame ritual of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
French rugby players provided similar knowing delight in their Dieux du Stade calendars.
Prince Fielder’s Demi Moore Moment: World Loses It Over Athlete Without Six-PackTim Teeman
July 10, 2014
She did not own a television, but went across the road to watch the rugby.
The Duke visited privately in 2005 when he followed the British Lions' rugby tour.
Historical Examples
Courage educated into them at Eton or Rugby, in many a fight and 289 scuffle.
An Orkney MaidAmelia Edith Huddleston Barr
The great window over the arch is a striking feature of the Rugby gateway.
Tom Brown at RugbyThomas Hughes
No; Rugby football is not much appreciated by the 9th Brigade.
War Letters of a Public-School BoyPaul Jones.
You know that he and I were at Rugby together, and then at Oxford?
Tom GerrardLouis Becke
Rugby and Swindon have quadrupled their population in the same time.
Lives of the EngineersSamuel Smiles
rugby
rugby football
- Also called: rugger a form of football played with an oval ball in which the handling and carrying of the ball is permitted
- Canadian another name for Canadian football
Show More
See also rugby league, rugby union
Word Origin
C19: named after the public school at Rugby, where it was first played
Rugby
- a town in central England, in E Warwickshire: famous public school, founded in 1567. Pop: 61 988 (2001)
Show More
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 rugby
n.
type of football, 1864, after Rugby, public school where the game was played, from city of Rugby in Warwickshire, central England. The place name is Rocheberie (1086), probably "fortified place of a man called *Hroca;" with second element from Old English burh (dative byrig), replaced by 13c. with Old Norse -by "village" due to the influence of Danish settlers. Otherwise it might be *Rockbury today. Or first element perhaps is Old English hroc "rook." Rugby Union formed 1871. Slang rugger for "rugby" is from 1893.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper